Train out of order 5 days of every month.
Uncomfortable being repaired, unless in group.
Corrects passengers on their boarding technique —they’re ALL doing it wrong, have to do it the OTHER way
Wonders what passengers are thinking
Feels sure silent passengers secretly HATE the train
Is grateful the route is on tracks and no map reading is required.
The two new locomotives are an Aussie and an Indian. (Dots, not feathers.) The Indian is actually sort of lovely and does reflect the postcolonial diversity of the UK in a charming way.
40% of the Thomas audience is female so it’s not such a silly move.
You may thank your lucky stars that the new locomotive isn’t “Aisha the Palestinian Freedom Fighter” who blows up tracks and trestles, cheers at derailments and claims granaries “in the name of Allah and against Percy, the Zionist Entity.”
That would make her, not a fantasy character, but a Londoner.