I was pretty cynical about the number of trains in existence at first, but there are a LOT of trains in the books... because Awdry was a big train nerd who loved a lot of different kinds of trains (with a huge preference for Steam trains over Diesel, a bias very evident and weird in the show/books) and included them in his stories.
One of Niko's watchers really doesn't like Thomas but puts up with it gamely for as long as she can stand it. There's some kids media I cannot abide, so I'm glad Niko's glommed onto one I mostly like... although it's also very dated and just plain WEIRD. Like, in one of the very early stories, a train is afraid of the rain so refuses to come out of a tunnel. The solution? THEY WALL HIM UP INSIDE THE TUNNEL. (He's later let out, to prove his worth.) These are sentient trains with hopes and fears and dreams and one of them is WALLED AWAY. The hell?
The trains also live in perpetual fear of "being scrapped," which is basically being murdered, so are constantly striving to "be really useful" to avoid a vengeful murder for not being useful enough.
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One of Niko's watchers really doesn't like Thomas but puts up with it gamely for as long as she can stand it. There's some kids media I cannot abide, so I'm glad Niko's glommed onto one I mostly like... although it's also very dated and just plain WEIRD. Like, in one of the very early stories, a train is afraid of the rain so refuses to come out of a tunnel. The solution? THEY WALL HIM UP INSIDE THE TUNNEL. (He's later let out, to prove his worth.) These are sentient trains with hopes and fears and dreams and one of them is WALLED AWAY. The hell?
The trains also live in perpetual fear of "being scrapped," which is basically being murdered, so are constantly striving to "be really useful" to avoid a vengeful murder for not being useful enough.