Totnak has turned 1 1/2 and right on schedule has developed a serious case of train love. This happens so regularly in my family that I swear there must be a gene for it. Anyway. We dug out his big brother’s choo-choo picture books and, of course, his Thomas the Tank Engine videos. We’re watching a lot of TtTE lately.
A question about those videos. How did the Britt Alcroft people get the engines to give off steam at just the right moment? (“Live steam” model engines like you’d buy in a model railway shop give off a steady stream of puffs.) How were the eyes moved? It seems to me these things were not accomplished by stop-motion animation, particularly the steam. Was there some sort of remote-control system, or could the commands be sent down the tracks on the sets somehow?