On trains

1. I had a friend in college named Thad who was something of a model railroad enthusiast. I accompanied him on a number of occassions to purchase model railroad kits: a general store, a mining operation, etc. Thad was, however, like many of my friends in college, a little bit sick in the head, and most certainly high on teh drugs. Rather than simply assembling the kits per the included instructions, Thad felt it necessary to slightly modify each kit in order to integrate it into his grand vision of a railroad set: a model railway dedicated to how the West was really won. Mining disasters. Massacres at labor camps. Selling alcohol and guns to the natives. I'd be curious to see how this project eventually turned out.


2. L'il wobs has taken a liking to Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. After viewing a pretty fair sampling of shows, I'm counting seven or eight depictions of railroad mishaps - derailment, spilt shipments, etc. - every thirty minutes of viewing, roughly. Yet, despite the shoddy safety record and apparent lack of government regulation, the fictional parents in Thomas' world are perfectly willing to put their children on these deathtraps. I suppose it's meant to cultivate in the young mind an appreciation of the Victorian charms inherent in laissez-faire capitalism.