loud booing ok ok listen crowd jeers hold up listen I have a point to make jeers die off with some hesitation

Trains

crowd erupts into cheers and applause

The U.K. genuinely has some of the best historic preservation of railways in the entire world. Just take a look at this Wikipedia list of heritage railways! Heritage lines are dotted all over the country but that isn't even the best part, which is the British love of little trains :comfy:. There are little railways everywhere. Every seaside town seems to have some sort of miniature railway, and little railways dot the countryside. Look at this list! And better yet, because the railways are so ubiquitous, many young people are becoming involved in the railways and continuing on the grand tradition.

In conclusion, while the mainline network may be run by a bunch of capitalist vultures, the little railways of Britain provide a wonderful opportunity to see a full-sized adult comically operate a tiny train.

crowd chants "ti-ny-train! ti-ny-train!"

a steam whistle is blown

crowd erupts into thunderous applause

    • Awoo [she/her]
      ·
      1 month ago

      I am not a train nerd but it's true that we have them everywhere.

      This is one of the things that RMT has been fighting to keep actually. The "modernisation" that they want to do is partly a reduction in maintenance staff using drones to inspect the lines instead of humans that walk them, this would very likely reduce many small lines that end up not getting the maintenance they need.

      • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
        ·
        1 month ago

        drones to inspect the lines

        This will not work properly. You need a person to see rail fractures, wear on the ties, etc. You need to be able to see the track close up!

        Can you explain the British psyche around little trains? You did a great job explaining the British enjoyment of things that are a bit shit the other day, explain the love of little trains to me.

        • Awoo [she/her]
          ·
          1 month ago

          Uhh.

          It's a day out? Lol. I don't know tbh I've never thought about it that much. I guess there is one thing that British people like and that's British things, anything historic is legitimately liked and supported here. Whether that's things like industrial revolution era stuff or whether it's more historic.

          I'd say that the train stuff comes down to Britain being perceived by the British as the origin of the industrial revolution, which is a pretty fair argument. Practically everything from that era has been very deeply engrained into British culture and identity.

          Americans like American revolution and civil war stuff right? I imagine that there is a similar reason.

          Also the small trains are a bit silly and British do really like silly things.