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#Railway Series Fandom

whumpster-fire · 1 year

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If I ever see any of you in public, the code is "I like your bootlaces"

That way we know we're from the TTTE fandom without revealing anything

Remember, the answer is: "Thanks, I used them to mend a hole in a coach's brake pipe."

#Railway Series Rubbishposting #shitpost #meme #Railway Series Fandom #TTTE Fandom #rent control

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anonymousboxcar · 5 months

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I noticed something today in “Down the Mine:” after Thomas mocks Gordon, the narrator says, “Annie and Clarabel were deeply shocked. They had a great respect for Gordon the Big Engine.”

Why do Annie and Clarabel respect Gordon so much? That’s a genuine question; I feel like I’m missing something here.

I’m guessing they knew him before Thomas became their primary engine. But at that point, I’m not sure Gordon would give the time of day to small, aging coaches. So how did he gain their respect?

Was it because he was an express engine and there were railway hierarchies associated with that? Was it because he embodied the growing prominence of their railway? Or was it something else?

I’d love to know what you guys think!

#ttte #rws #the railway series #ttte questions #question for the fandom #ttte gordon #ttte annie #ttte clarabel

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platonic-pals-punchout · 9 months

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Thomas the Tank Engine (mutlimedia) | My Hero Academia (manga & anime)

Thomas & Percy:

Oh, I don't know if they'll win. But if there's one thing I know for certain... it's that the TTTE fandom goes nuts when our blorbos get into a poll. I think we need to do that again. And who better than Our Boys?

Bakugou Katsuki & Kirishima Eijirou:

Both of the characters’ developments rely a lot on each other. They push each other to be the best version of themselves, with mutual trust and respect - of which one of the characters, Bakugou, has never really been seen to share with any other character. They very clearly care about each other a lot, and have a special bond I feel is inspiring and endearing. If there were such things as soulmates, I feel they’d be platonic soulmates, your honour.

#round 1 #part 2 #platonic pals punchout #tournament #character tournament #team tournament #fandom poll #tte #thomas & friends #the railway series #my hero academia #mha #the thomas one is worded so threateningly i love it

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weirdowithaquill · 6 months

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Traintober 2023: Day 24 - Odd Jobs

Rusty's Duties Have Always Been Odd Jobs:

Rusty’s duties have always been odd jobs.

It begins, as always, with Rusty being started up early in the morning by their driver, with Mr Hugh close behind. The little diesel is not the first out of the shed – that honour goes to Duke, who always pulls the first train of the day. Rusty quietly wonders if it’s so the others get some extra rest. Whatever the answer is, the heat from Duke’s boiler always warms the shed wonderfully, meaning the little diesel’s engine turns over on command, rather than coughing and spluttering in the cool of the early morning.

From there, Rusty’s first job every morning is to help Mr Hugh inspect the coaches and trucks in the yard. They check that they’re all in their proper places, that the brakes haven’t frozen solid (especially in the winter), that they’ve recently had their joints greased. It’s not a difficult task, nor is it a long one – but it’s enough to help Rusty wake up. The little diesel can’t drink coffee after all, so this has to suffice.

After the trucks and coaches have been checked, the pair inspect the points, and then Rusty is free to shunt trains until the track crew call.

The little diesel doesn’t always pull maintenance trains – it’s just not needed – but that’s alright. There are plenty of other jobs that need doing. Rusty’s roll on the railway – when the little diesel isn’t working on the track – is to act as the ‘relief’. This is a very important job. Whenever one of the other engines breaks down, has an accident, or is delayed, the ‘relief’ is called to cover for them. Rusty takes this job very seriously. It means that the little diesel has to be prepared at any moment to race up the line to help.

But Rusty loves the maintenance trains the most. These trains run up and down the line, and fix the track before there can be a problem. Rusty thinks there isn’t a job in the world more rewarding! Maintenance trains run most often in the autumn and spring – in the winter, it’s almost impossible to see the trackbed for the snow that coats it, and in the summer every engine is needed for the tourist trains. This leaves just the cold, wet month of November for maintenance trains in the autumn, and windy, wet March for maintenance trains in the spring.

Which was rather annoying, for the amount of rain that could fall and cause issues everywhere. Snow melted into torrents that threatened to wash away the line, but that never deterred Rusty. The little diesel dutifully trekked up and down the line, keeping their friends safe in their own way.

When not pulling maintenance trains or acting as the ‘relief’, Rusty could be found shunting trucks and coaches, or delivering coal to the villages in the mountains, or working the inclines. The little diesel did a million things in a day, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

And as night fell, as the stars began to illuminate the night sky with their twinkling light, Rusty returns to the shed. The little diesel is not the first to return – Sir Handel came off the rails earlier after yet another argument with the coaches – and the little diesel is certainly not the last to return – Rheneas has the mail run – but everyone agrees that Rusty deserves a place in the shed beside Duke. Because in the morning, Duke will be the first engine to get up steam, with his boiler warming Rusty’s engine so the little diesel can do it all again, continuously doing the odd jobs behind the scenes to keep the Skarloey Railway running.

Back to Master Post

#fanfiction writer #railway series #weirdowithaquill #thomas the tank engine #railways #traintober 2023 #traintober #ttte rusty #skarloey railway #ttte fandom #odd jobs #Rusty is best diesel

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bladexjester · 1 year

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Happy 78th Anniversary to The Railway Series!!!

#thomas and friends #thomas the tank engine #ttte fanart #ttte fandom #the railway series #railway series #78th anniversary #ttte edward

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mean-scarlet-deceiver · 4 months

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Anyways GAS MAIN LINE ENGINES! MAIN LINE ENGINES SWEEP! LITERALLY THE BEST AWDRY BOOK BY A LONG SHOT! MAIN LINE ENGINES FOR THE WIN!

Oh man, you're just asking for someone to come and take aim at MLE

*bites nails*

#i cannot help but observe #that you just advanced 'fandom halo effect' as an argument against Enterprising Engines superiority #and now in its place you are advocating we hand top honors to... Main Line Engines #there *is* a flank left open here to attack...#chatter #the railway series

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mmprviolet · 2 years

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I was never fond of the steam team idea

Not only does it stir a lot of unnecessary drama in the fandom, but I also find it very limiting in terms of character interactions. The steam team has to interact with only each other and hog all the spotlight. Plus not every character needs to be in it, some work better off not being part of it. The notion that a character's worth lies on whether or not they're on the steam team, which I find pretty dumb.

Fans feelings get hurt when the character they want on the team end up not joining and they take it out on others, resulting in perfectly fine characters getting an unfair amount of hate (Emily vs Duck, the Nia and Rebecca fiasco). And again I find it very limiting for interactions and dynamics, and I don't like seeing characters get pitted against each other when they have no reason to be rivals. Lastly it's obvious the entire purpose is for marketing merch and appealing to moral guardians. At the end of the day it holds no real value and I hope future thomas works scrap that concept entirely.

#thomas the tank engine #ttte #the railway series #all engines go #ttte fandom #vent

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starleska · 1 year

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What your favorite thing about TTTE/ RWS

James the Red Engine, of course!! 🥺 love this vain little prince!

no, honestly, thank you for asking this question because it's such a tough one to quantify when there's so much to enjoy. i've only been in the TTTE fandom for a few weeks (mildly side-tracked by discovering a blorbo from another fandom - sorry train fans 😂) but i am just astonished by the depth of lore and creativity in both the canon and the fandom!!!

the original Railway Series is full of so much heart and originality...beautiful illustrations, lovely little moral lessons, and such fun personalities from the trains. you can tell how much love the Reverend put into the series. the original Thomas the Tank Engine show brings those biting characters to life with simple yet visually stunning models, and it’s so much fun getting to see these trains move and interact with each other!! and finally, i haven’t had much time to explore the newer iterations of TTTE yet, but it all seems very sweet and i’m pleased it’s being brought to a new generation 🥰💖

but i’ll be honest with you - it was absolutely the fandom which sucked me in. i’ve been lurking on the periphery for quite some time, and was drawn in by the sheer passion and talent of people participating in the fandom. all those amazing train humanisations, in-depth theories which take into account the completely mental lore of Sodor and all its real-life equivalent events, how open and fun everyone is about their respective interpretations...it all just looked like a great thing to be a part of, and i wasn’t wrong 🔥🔥

like, honestly, as an autistic person i always knew TTTE would get me one day. trains are cool: there’s so much to learn about them in real life, from their history, to their modernisation, to all the models which exist, all of the lines and tracks and the engineering side of things. bringing a funny, colourful cast of mischievous trains into the mix, ripe for all kinds of fun fannish activities, was the killing move. it’s all so endearing and it makes my heart warm 😊💖

(plus...i’m already a fan of Cars and Choo-Choo Charles. it was inevitable 🤣)

#thanks for having me TTTE fandom y'all are fantastic - keep on making your lovely stuff and having a blast with it :3c #thomas the tank engine #ttte #ttte fandom #thomas & friends #james the red engine #ttte james #the railway series #starleskasks

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hi-my-name-is-cosmopathy · 1 year

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how would the HFOD au react about the multiverse?

Wait, you mean figuring out the existence of the Multiverse?

It's that's the case, then it wouldn't really happen in my 4 AUs for TTTE (The Main AU, Human For One Day, Ghost Pals, The Multi-Railway Series). Creator Cosmo does enjoy creating crossover AUs or just AUs in general, but they like to keep them tidy. BUUUT!! It does happen in some sort of way in another AU i haven't really talked about in this blog; Fandom Academy. I say that because in this AU they work in tandem with a school that houses people from different fandoms (but no one knows this except certain self-aware people like its principal).

BUUUT! If they did, they would go effing crazy. Like, amazed, shocked, curious, and scared all at the same time. They would probably figure out because Cosmo decided to drop them in another universe (but one that's at least “suitable” their opinion...EVEN THO THEY WOULD PROBABLY DROP THEM AT GENSHIN IMPACT)

I hope that answers your question!

#ttte #ttte crossover #multiverse #thomas the tank engine #but at this point this is just a ttte blog #maybe one day I'll create a separate one for fandom Academy #fandom academy #hfod! ttte au #ttte ghost pals #the multi-railway series #au #writing #genshin impact

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egonspenglershusband · 1 year

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So I tried to draw my oc Alex as the train version of them instead of drawing them as a human but um

Man Trains are hard to draw like I said I tried I honestly hated drawing the wheels I might do a digital version of this at some point to show what her Livery looks like & stuff and Also have their number on them I forgot to draw that also I need to do a face sheet for her

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whumpster-fire · 1 year

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How to Swear Like a Steam Engine (And Other Sentient Locomotive Slang)

If there’s one thing engines enjoy doing, it’s complaining and insulting each other, and they’ve developed their own slang to do it. Phrases like “fusspot,” “cinders and ashes!” and “bossy boiler” are common in the Railway Series, but there are many other terms.

The following list of phrases and expressions are commonly used by engines on American railroads, in particular on the Jefferson Great Divide Railway in the mountain west of the US. Some may be common in Sodor and the rest of Britain as well, others are specific to America. There are other lists on the internet documenting the various IRL slang used by human employees, and a lot of that is used by engines as well, but this is specifically the slang terms that were more or less developed within the locomotive subculture.

All Smoke and No Steam: All show and no substance. A person or engine who talks a good game or puts a lot of effort into appearing to be helpful but can’t back it up. An engine that’s making a huge cloud of smoke and a lot of noise looks impressive but if what’s coming out the smokestack is all smoke and no steam it’s not actually doing any work. Can also mean empty words or promises that won’t be fulfilled in the abstract.

“He’s all smoke and no steam!” = talks a good game, is all hat and no cattle, etc.

“That rule’s all smoke and no steam” can mean a rule isn’t / won’t be enforced, or that it will be enforced but it doesn’t actually make things better and is just a way of looking like something’s being done. E.g. “The new safety regulations are all smoke and no steam, management’s still going to come down harder for being late than for safety violations.”

“Their threats are all smoke and no steam” (when referring to customers/clients/workers) = they complain loudly but they’re not actually going to do anything like stop buying tickets, or ship freight by other means, or quit, or strike.

Amtrash: Derogatory term for Amtrak and its engines, used by freight railroad engines. Amtrak is the USA’s quasi-nationalized long-distance passenger rail network. Most of the track it runs on is owned by other railroads which are freight-only, and there’s quite a bit of resentment between them. See also: Useless Pacific, Nofucks Southern, Satan Fe, All Trains Smell Funny, Borington Northern, Misery Pacific, Criminally Slow and X-pensive, Southern Pathetic, Big Nasty Stupid Fuckers. The US only had its railroads forced into a Get Along T-shirt for like three years and that was during WWI-era, so there are a lot of rivalries between different railroads there.

Ballast Plow: A large truck, especially a flatbed, that stalls at a crossing – because if it gets hit it’s likely to bend around the engine’s front and be dragged down the track instead of getting thrown aside, digging into the embankment and scattering ballast everywhere.

Buckled Rail: A buckled rail (usually happens due to thermal expansion of the track in a heatwave) is at a minimum extremely painful to run over and can often damage engines or rolling stock and derail trains. “I need that like a buckled rail!”

Cattle Cars / Cattle: Derogatory term for a passenger train / passengers, particularly unruly and annoying passengers. Engines aren’t supposed to say this within earshot of passengers (and coaches get offended too).

Cowboy / Car Wrangler / Rodeo Clown: Shunter/switcher engines. Definitely popularized in the American West.

Did you fill your Tender/Bunker from the Ash Pit?: Ash doesn’t burn and would make a mess all over the cab. Basically translates to “Who pissed in your cornflakes?”Can also refer to an engine who has no steam or energy.

“Did you fill your bunker from the ash pit this morning? You’ve done nothing but complain and insult everyone all day!”

“Did you fill your tender from the ash pit today? I might as well be pulling this train by myself!”

Did They Fill Your Tender With Rocks?: Less profane version of the above.

Drink Hard Water: Hard water, i.e. water with lots of mineral content, is not good for a steam engine because mineral deposits (boiler sludge and scale) can accumulate in the boiler and other plumbing and be very uncomfortable / difficult to clean out.

“Go drink hard water!” = Go jump in a lake / go to hell / go fuck yourself. Basically “go somewhere else and have a miserable time while you’re there.”

“I’d rather drink hard water!” or “That’s like drinking hard water!” = Hell No.

Dry Crownsheet: VERY strong expression meaning an engine is tired or frustrated to the breaking point and about to lose their temper. “My crownsheet’s dry” could be compared to “I’m going to blow a fuse” or “Blow my stack” but that doesn’t cover the intensity. The crownsheet is the top of a locomotive’s firebox, and allowing the water level in the boiler to drop low enough that the crownsheet is exposed can cause it to overheat, weaken, and fail, which is a common cause of boiler explosions. If that weren’t bad enough water suddenly being reintroduced to an overheated crown sheet can flash to steam and cause a catastrophic pressure spike. Blowing a fuse means a safety mechanism has activated to prevent catastrophe. A steam locomotive with a dry crownsheet means the safety mechanisms have already failed and is on the verge of a devastating explosion. Used figuratively, means an engine has run out of ability to cope with stress and is one more tiny irritation away from taking it out on whoever’s unlucky enough to have added the proverbial final straw, or just anyone nearby, without regard to consequences for themselves.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault. He rolled into the yard with his crownsheet dry” = He wasn’t angry because of you, he was already angry and something was going to set him off sooner or later.

“Listen, I got a dry crownsheet from my last train. If any of you cars start anything I’m about ready to jump the track into the river and pull you all along with me.”

“Please just get me out of this station! My crownsheet’s about dry and if I have to hear the passengers complaining I don’t think I can take it!”

Find a Scrapyard: This basically means “Kill yourself,” so… not a very nice thing to say.

Fire Me Dry: Basically equivalent to “Fuck me” as an expression of exasperation. If an engine’s fire was lit with no water in the boiler at all, it might not cause an explosion but would still destroy the firebox. Apparently Furness Railway No. 1 was severely damaged and later scrapped due to this.

Flatlanders: Insult used on many mountain railways to make fun of engines and crews from plains regions who aren’t used to running the difficult routes.

“Boy, if those flatlanders think one in one-twenty’s a hill, I can’t wait to see ‘em coming up the pass!”

“They way some of these flatlanders talk you’d think you can’t climb anything over 1% without cog wheels.”

General Sherman, Sherman’s Army, Sherman’s Necktie: Refers to “Sherman’s Neckties,” a tactic of destroying sections of rail by heating them and twisting or bending them until they were unusable. This phrase is pretty much US-specific, and likely originated with engines used in the US Civil War picking up the term from humans, but has spread to subsequent generations of engines who often weren’t taught the historical context and only knew that Sherman was a man who commanded an army and destroyed a lot of railroad track. General Sherman and his army have become almost folkloric figures that various causes of track wear and failure are attributed to, sort of like Jack Frost. Can also refer to incompetent track maintenance / rough and poorly maintained track, or to the crews and vehicles responsible for it. Though they sometimes use the term for an engine who’s particularly hard on the rails or otherwise damages the track.

“That crew really did a General Sherman of a job with these rails.” = Sarcastically saying the maintenance crew made the rails even worse.

“Be careful at that junction, it’s a real Sherman’s Necktie.”

“Ouch! Who laid these ties, General Sherman?”

“That new road-rail’s a real General Sherman. Take any track he’s been over slow or you might break an axle.”

“Hey, General Sherman, try checking a switch is set right before you barge into it.”

“In case you’re wondering why the spur’s been closed all day, General Sherman over here spun his wheels ‘til he damn near hit ballast.” (Diesels in multiple unit operation can occasionally spin their wheels on a stopped train for so long they grind/melt halfway through the rails)

“They ought to put you in a siding and necktie the rails” (similar to “They should lock you up and throw away the key)

“Keep an eye on the track ahead of you: General Sherman’s hard at work on days like this” = a warning given in very hot weather that could cause buckling of the rails.

Getting the Rails Painted: A euphemism for a person or animal being run over by a train. Alternately: “Paint my wheels” or “Paint my pilot.” Obviously no sane engine wants this to happen but some engines use this phrase as gallows humor between each other. Occasionally said to humans who break safety rules by a furious engine.

“What the hell are you doing walking between moving freight cars? You almost painted the rails back there!”

“I heard they got the rails painted at the 58th Street Crossing?” “Yeah. From what I heard, poor guy must’ve been drunk and fell asleep on the tracks. They didn’t say whose train it was but Robbie’s been in the shed all week.”

“Some idiot ducked under the crossing gates on a bike and just about painted my pilot.”

“I got my pilot painted by a herd of deer yesterday. I swear, once they get on the track they must think they’re a train, they just run along it!”

Go Get Your Ash Pan Raked: Removing the ash that collects under an engine’s firebox could be considered the closest steam engine equivalent to using the bathroom, but the connotations aren’t quite the same. Cleaning out the ash pan is a task firemen hate, so telling an engine to get their ash pan raked basically means “Go be someone else’s problem for a while (instead of mine)” Basically translates to "Fuck off."

Hotbox / Hot Axle: A hotbox or hot axle is an overheating axle and/or bearing box, usually on rolling stock but sometimes on engines. “One hot axle stops a train” is a common proverb that means a small missed detail can cause a massive inconvenience or impediment – compare to “For want of a nail” or “One bad apple spoils the barrel.” It doesn’t matter how many cars are on a train, a single hotbox can force the entire thing to stop until the problem is fixed. In slang use, of course, a hotbox can refer to anything small and seemingly irrelevant that manages to cause a disproportionate amount of annoyance, delay, or wasted time. It could be a physical object, a rule or procedure or an event. It is also a common insult: sometimes directed at engines, but more often at people or other vehicles. It basically means “killjoy” or “wet blanket,” with a specific connotation of “You and your opinion aren’t important but you are holding everyone else back / ruining things for everyone by making a ton of noise.” Common examples of hotboxes include an overly officious inspector or manager, a broken down road vehicle blocking a grade crossing, a track maintenance crew that’s working slowly and blocking multiple trains, a small weather event that still sometimes manages to delay everything, or an unruly passenger who causes an entire train to be stopped on their account (or unsuccessfully demands it be).

“Sorry I’m so late. Some drunk hotbox picked a fight with the conductor and the cops had to drag him off the train.”

“Will you quit being such a hot axle? Everyone else is enjoying the roundhouse party, if you don’t like it just sleep outside!”

“They’d better fix those jammed points soon, they’re hotboxing the whole damn yard!” (note: the use of "hotbox" as a verb among engines probably predates the drug usage)

Icicles In My Smokebox: Hyperbolic complaining about cold weather. There are many parts of a steam engine that are susceptible to things freezing where they shouldn’t, such as the feed hoses from the tender, water tanks, and possibly journal boxes and other running gear could feel stiff and numb if the oil gets cold enough. Naturally, when engines are complaining about the cold they’ll claim the hottest parts of them, which have absolutely no chance of freezing while their fire is lit, are freezing. Other variants include “Frost in my flues,” “If they put ice cream in my firebox it wouldn’t melt,” and “Cold enough to freeze your smoke halfway up the stack,” and “So cold a snowman could fire me all day long” (standing next to a firebox door shoveling coal is hot work, if it’s that cold in the cab it’s pretty darn cold)

Idiot Siding: Off the rails, specifically a safety siding where the rails end in a sand or gravel bed, or wherever a train that runs over trap points / catch points / derailers gets sent. These devices intentionally derail an uncontrolled or runaway train to prevent it from obstructing a main line or endangering people further down the track. If a train ends up here either somebody didn’t check the switch alignment, moved when they weren’t supposed to, or lost control of their train, hence the name.

If it gets any hotter my fireman’s gonna be out of a job: Hyperbolic complaining about the weather – implying that the heat of the sun on an engine’s boiler is enough to raise steam without them needing a fire.

In My Cab: Sarcastic way of saying another engine (usually) or a non-crew human is being bossy, or controlling and/or micromanaging, or giving advice on things that are none of their business. Basically meaning “You’re acting like you think you’re my driver.”

“Get out of my cab, I can sort these cars how I want!”

“Manager’s been in my cab all week.”

“Who let you in my cab?”

“Yeah, sure thing. Hey, while you’re up there in my cab, why don’tcha polish my gauges?”

Lionel Lines / Lionels: Derogatory term for narrow-gauge railways and trains, named after the popular brand of toy and model trains. Visitors to the JGD are strongly advised to NOT use this term around the resident standard-gauge engines. They are very protective of their narrow-gauge friends due to certain incidents in the past.

No Ashpan: e.g. “You’ve been running with no ashpan all day” or “He ain’t got no ashpan.” The ash pan is a tray underneath a steam engine’s firebox that collects ash and cinders that fall through the grates. An engine with no ashpan would leave a trail of red-hot cinders everywhere it went, which could be scattered by the wind from a train at speed, starting fires around the track – especially in the dry climate where the JGD is! Basically it means someone leaves a trail of destruction wherever they go. This is a very strong way of calling someone clumsy or incompetent (as in “You fuck up everything you touch”). It can also be used to refer to someone who’s rude, tactless, cruel, or toxic.

Pulling With Your Regulator: Wasting effort, doing more work than you need to. A steam engine’s power can be controlled using the regulator/throttle (reducing available steam pressure / flow rate to the valves) or by using the valve gear control (the “Johnson Bar”) to reduce the amount of time the valves are open. Controlling power and speed using the Johnson Bar (admitting small amounts of high-pressure steam into the cylinders) is more efficient than using the throttle (letting lots of low-pressure steam into the cylinders).

“Sure, you could shunt those cars like that, but you’ll be pulling with your regulator. Those grain hoppers are going out tomorrow morning and you’ll have to get ‘em out from behind everything else.”

Put on a Liquid Diet: A coal-fired or wood-fired steam engine being converted to an oil burner.

Rolling Dumpster: Insulting term for a tender. Not like a slur against tender engines, in fact it’s probably mostly tender engines who use it. E.g. “Why don’t you get that rolling dumpster off that siding and do some work for once?”

Sand in my fire and coal on my wheels: An engine feeling sick, confused, or discombobulated. Ironically oil-fired engines do actually periodically get sand thrown in their fire to clean their tubes out.

Scalding: Yelling at someone, dressing them down, treating them with cruelty. Engines can’t be physically scalded, but they know the meaning from the injuries that escaping steam can cause to humans.

“I’m sick of that stationmaster. He scalded me and my crew for running two minutes behind schedule without even asking why!”

“Geez, ask a simple question, get a scalding.”

“If that switchman isn’t fired tonight, he’ll wish he had been after the scalding I give him next time he see him. Throwing a train onto a siding at that speed could’ve derailed me, not to mention if there’d been a train there!"

Slug: Someone who blindly follows orders with no initiative or independent thought, or a yes-man or toadie. Used by diesels. A slug is an extra motor unit that can be coupled to a diesel-electric engine that draws excess power from it to provide extra traction while shunting, but a slug is not alive in the same way that tenders aren’t alive.

“Oh, company policy says, the rulebook says – quit being such a slug and live a little!”

“Yeah, the guy’s just Bernie’s slug. Always following him around hoping to be noticed. Pathetic.”

Smoke out the Stack: Similar to Water Under the Bridge. Expression meaning something’s in the past and no longer relevant.

“Hey, sorry about this morning.” “Ahh, don’t worry, that’s smoke out the stack."

Squishies: A very rude way of referring to careless yard workers and light road or rail vehicles, as well as people who trespass on tracks.

Sugar in My Fuel Tank: An unpleasant surprise. Originated in petrol-powered vehicles, but spread to diesel locomotives even though sugar in a diesel tank doesn’t really cause that much damage.

Teakettle: Insulting term for steam engines, especially small ones.

Tender-first: Doing something totally wrong, i.e. Ass-backwards. This one translates very literally. A tender engine running backwards can’t see very well and neither can its crew.

This Train’s Leaving. You can be on it, beside it, or under it: Means “My mind is made up. You can either help or leave me alone, but if you get in the way there’s going to be serious trouble.”

Thrown: Throwing a switch is what changing it from one direction to another is called, but when an engine talks about getting thrown it means being switched in an unexpected or unwanted direction, particularly at high speed. Like other types of sentient vehicle engines need a human operator to move with full control, but they also run on rails and cannot “steer.” In essence a train moves in one dimension while a car or boat moves in two and an aircraft moves in three. Even the most free-spirited engines don’t usually truly want the ability to go any which way: they like the certainty and predictability of knowing where moving forward will take them. However, engines do value the limited autonomy they do have. An engine can’t control itself without a driver, but as anyone who’s read the Railway Series will know, it is extremely difficult to move an unwilling engine. Thomas and James had runaway incidents because they were either trying to move without a driver on purpose or didn’t realize there was no one at the controls, and once they had made the choice to let themselves start moving, they couldn’t change the state of their controls by themselves. But an engine won’t move without their consent. Switches are a different matter. An engine is reliant on someone outside the cab to set the points, and being sent down the “wrong track” against their will feels very violating to many engines in a way that being physically pushed or pulled by another vehicle doesn’t. It’s like being manhandled. There is an expectation that switch operators follow the instructions of either an engine, their crew, or the dispatcher or yardmaster who is expected to tell the engine in advance where they are supposed to go. It’s also physically a jarring and unpleasant out-of-control feeling for an engine even when traveling at a safe speed – basically the train equivalent of going up or down a staircase and expecting another step that isn’t there, or suddenly hydroplaning or hitting a patch of ice in a car, or having your feet start to slide out from under you. And it’s often downright dangerous, either because a train is moving too fast for the curve of the switch and is derailed or because it’s sent into a collision on the other track or off the end of a siding (e.g. the Flying Kipper crash). Engines being engines, the term is also used hyperbolically to complain about an abrupt change of routing or scheduling with little warning, e.g. “Well, nobody told us about the special using my regular platform, until the last signal, they just threw me to Platform Five!” or “Today’s ore train was late. Dispatch gave them the tunnel instead of me so they didn’t have to stop going uphill, but I didn’t hear about it until they threw me on the passing siding!” It can also be used figuratively, similar to “thrown off track” or “thrown off,” to describe an unpleasant surprise or failure of communication.

Traveling In Style: Slang for a vehicle, especially a locomotive, being transported on a flatbed.

Tubes in a Twist / Knot: Expression of an engine (or human) being irritated, or feeling sick.

“What’s gt your tubes in a twist this morning?”

“That’ll put a knot in the foreman’s tubes for sure!”

“Are you feeling okay? You look like you’ve got a knot in your tubes!”

Turf Train: Affectionate term for farm tractors pulling multiple trailers or appliances.

Turn Your Grates: Implying that an engine has a buildup of ash on their firebox grates that is preventing their fire from getting enough air – almost always used figuratively to imply the engine’s mind is clogged with useless thoughts or strong emotions that are keeping them from thinking clearly. Or that they’re just being an idiot.

“Turn your grates before you run your mouth” = Think before you speak, in particular about whether you’re coming from a place of emotion or bias.

“Turn your grates and look at the track” = You have your mind on something other than what you’re doing, stop thinking about that and concentrate.

“Your cars are right on Spur 7 like I told you, turn your grates and look again!”

“I know the last diesel who visited was rude, but let’s turn our grates and keep an open mind about the new ones.”

Yoopers and Burlies: These are JGD-specific slang. The railroad connects to two major interstate railroads, Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). At some point some engine heard about the word “Yooper” to describe people from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, decided to start calling engines and employees from Union Pacific this, and the name stuck. “Burlies” are BNSF engines. Prior to the 1995 merge of Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the term was used for Burlington Northern, but there wasn’t really a term for Santa Fe engines other than “Santas” or “S-Fs.” A few engines tried to get “Reindeer” adopted as a term but it never caught on. Yoopers and Burlies are common on the JGD because both railways have trackage rights on one or more of its major routes.

You Got Your Valve Gear Backwards On the Left Side: Steam locomotives reverse by using their valve gear to change the timing of their valves. If one somehow had its valve gear operating backwards on one side, one cylinder would be trying to go in reverse and the other forward and it wouldn’t get anywhere. Used figuratively to mean “You’re sabotaging yourself” or “You’re the cause of your own problems.” Mostly used by older engines.

#Railway Series Fandom #TTTE fandom #worldbuilding #JGD Lore

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leatherbootlace · 2 years

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THOMAS the Tank Engine

(Don’t worry, I’m working on some of the asks but I figured I’d get this post out of the way while it’s fresh in my mind.)

The most famous of all the engines on Sodor, Thomas can be described as a cheeky, fussy little engine. He often gets into scrapes, usually by being over-eager to do things best left to bigger, more sensible engines. But clouds never last long in Thomas’ life and xe’s soon bustling about again, playing its part in the yard and on his very own branch line, of which xe is extremely proud. Thomas works hard and it always strives to be a Really Useful Engine.

NAME: Thomas NUMBER: NWR No 1 - Ex-LBSC No 105 OPERATOR: North Western Railway BASIS: LB&SCR Class E2X 0-6-0 Tank Engine GENDER: Agender - He/Him - Xe/Xem - It/Its ORIENTATION: Bi-Romantic - Currently dating Ashima EYE COLOUR: Yellow LINE: Ffarquhar Branch Line

Original Sprites by Princess-Muffins, Cj-The-Creator, Thomaslady9404, RedEngineStudioNo5 & DemonOfNowhere.

Any & All Modifications made by Myself, LeatherBootlace.

Keep Reading Below for AU Lore!

[[HISTORY]]

Thomas arrived on the Fat Controller’s Railway in large part due to a wartime mix-up, one that caused quite a headache for the duration of the Great War until The Fat Controller managed to sort it out with the Mainland. By then, the war had ended, and Thomas was put to work as the Pilot for the Big Station, readying trains for the Big Engines to take elsewhere.

After he proved his worth and rescued Jamie from a nasty accident, xe was rewarded with its own Branch Line, which he works happily to this day with xyr two faithful coaches, Annie & Clarabel.

[[THOMAS’S VARIOUS ROMANCES]]

Though not as romantic compared to other engines on the Fat Controller’s Railway, Thomas has had his fair share of relationships that have come and gone over the years.

The most significant, surprisingly, was Jamie. Their relationship went on for quite some time during the early days of the railway, the two regularly seeing each other at the junction. At times, it wasn’t uncommon to see Jamie help out on the Branch Line - not that they admitted to it, of course. However, their relationship became strained during the Sodor Strike of ‘33, and after a few years they broke it off. They’re still on good terms, of course... but every now and then, rumour persists that the spark between them might be rekindled.

Following their break-up, most of Thomas’ relationships were much shorter in term. His rivalry with Bertie has forever been underscored by an admiration for one another. There was a brief fling with Jinty when she covered the Branch Line while xe was on the Mainland. It was involved in a polycule with the Scottish Twins that was... overwhelming, to say the least. Oliver is a regular flirt in an open relationship. Arthur was nice, but difficult to stay connected with. And Ryan? That was a mess and a half on Thomas’ part.

But apart from Jamie, the only significant relationship Thomas has had would be with Ashima - a visiting engine who stopped on the Island during the “Great International Railway Show” on the Mainland. The two hit it off rough at first, but after a mix-up ended up keeping her on the Island for a time, the two slowly but surely came to love one another. They’re now happily in a long-distance relationship, and often send letters and photos to one another when they get the chance.

[[REBUILD & REPAIR]]

Thomas has had quite a few modifications to his design over the years. In the early days, Thomas’ rear had to be redesigned following a nasty accident which left it mangled. Thomas doesn’t remember much about the details, but the engines that were around then remain quite hushed about the ordeal.

Many years later, there was the infamous ‘Breakfast Incident’, which gave Sir Charles Hatt an excuse to provide some serious improvements to xyr design. It spent a good few months in the Works being repaired, and returned in Autumn looking very different to how he was when xe first arrived.

[[PUSH-PULL SET]]

Thomas was equipped with Push-Pull Equipment around the time he received xyr Branch Line. Four Coaches on the Ffarquhar Branch also bear this equipment - Annie, Clarabel, Darcy & Edgar. Though Annie & Clarabel are usually the only coaches who often go out with it, Darcy & Edgar do join them for heavier trains, as well as Thomas’ Local Run from the Big Station to Cronk.

*Note: Darcy & Edgar are two OCs belonging to SodorRyModeler on Twitter. You can find out more about them Here.

[[HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE]]

Thomas is quite a well-known celebrity amongst engines, and has travelled the world almost as much as the likes of Flying Scotsman or Nia. It’s visited many railways abroad, including Ashima’s own in India.

As well, Thomas was also inducted as an honorary member of the National Railway Museum’s Collection of Engines in the 1990s. Years later, Alice, Gordon & Henry would also join this Collection as members.

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demonofnowhere · 2 years

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* warning: my posts here will be complete and utter dog shit until i figure out how to make reasonable posts on tumblr lmao

* (also i’m looking for people to follow and such, so if you like the RWS or UNDERTALE or OMORI howdy follow me if you want)

#* i guess i can put those fandom names in these tags despite the post not being about that #thomas the tank engine #the railway series #UNDERTALE #DELTARUNE #OMORI #* i don't know whether using the tags like this is a good idea or not LMAO

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platonic-pals-punchout · 7 months

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Thomas the Tank Engine (multimedia) | Pokemon (multimedia)

Thomas & Percy:

Oh, I don’t know if they’ll win. But if there’s one thing I know for certain… it’s that the TTTE fandom goes nuts when our blorbos get into a poll. I think we need to do that again. And who better than Our Boys?

Ash & Pikachu:

Ash and Pikachu have spent decades together fighting everyone from little kids to literal deities after Ash saved Pikachu from a bunch of angry pidgies, so they’re basically the unstoppable force half of “unstoppable force meets immovable object”. And frankly? I have yet to hear an immovable object in your list of submissions.

Note: This blog is run & followed by aromantics. Insisting any pairs are ~actually romantic~ will not only cause you to be blocked on the spot, but you’ll out yourself as someone not safe to be queer around. No one wants to hear how stupid you look with those shipping goggles on.

#round 2 #part 2 #platonic pals punchout #platonic polls #tournament #character tournament #team tournament #fandom poll #tte #thomas & friends #the railway series #pokemon #battle for the AGES im so excited for this one guys

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weirdowithaquill · 5 months

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Real quick question.

If you would use any hit era or cgi character in your series who would it be?

Ok, so this is an interesting question, and it's a hard one to answer because a number of the HiT and CGI characters are blank slates, I can press any characterization onto - so I'll run through a few I have considered for my ERS series:

Molly: she made it in! She's the only HiT era character who managed to sneak through the net, and that's because she's one of the few HiT era characters I felt had an interesting character (and design) and that gave me plenty to work with. You can read her spotlight book here.

Neville: I was sorely tempted when I was writing 'Searching for New Engines' to drop him in as a last-minute pickup. I even toyed with him replacing Emily in that particular book or being added with Murdoch. But I didn't in the end because I just didn't have much to say about Neville. I may change my mind and drop him in as a cameo, but otherwise don't expect him too soon.

Rosie: Rosie and I have a... turbulent history. I've never liked her as a character, and her CGI reboot never clicked with me either (it was the weird valentine's day thing). However, I did consider having her cameo at least once in 'Salty the Dockside Diesel Engine' due to her connection to both Salty and Thomas - her class somewhat replaced the E2's in Southampton, and then along came Salty and the 07s and replaced both.

Samson: he also made it in! Samson stars in one story, because he was built by the same company as Neil and has a similar shape, making it feel like he could have also been an S&MR engine. You can find his story in 'Neil the Boxy Little Engine'.

Den and Dart: Could be fun, but most likely as a cameo for diesels who live on the mainland (possibly at the NRM? I'm not sure).

Ryan: I have yet to decide where I fall on whether or not Ryan makes an appearance. He's a cool engine - and I like him, which is surprising for a CGI character - but at the same time, I must admit that it sort of felt like he was just a new version of Stanley to me. He may still appear as a cameo in a future story though!

Stanley: I already have a Stanley in the series, and it isn't the silver tank engine, though he would be one of the more interesting ones to have around for the weird one-sided rivalry Thomas has with him.

Paxton and Sidney: Another pair who may or may not cameo. I will say that there have been a number of Class 08s who make background appearances in 'The World Famous Engine', and you could headcanon them as one or both of the pair.