What is the legal status of engines in your universe? Are they considered people or property?
I suppose first off, I have to define what a sapient engine is. In this story, not every locomotive is sapient. And in the United States, NONE of the diesel engines are sapient, it’s just the steam engines.
In Britain, only older diesels are sapient, and newer diesels and also electric engines are not sapient.
Sapiency in a locomotive is very, very rare. It is why many of these engines were preserved, because they were that special. Engines who have faces…they are sapient, engines without the faces are not…they are just machines. Not mechanical life forms.
And just to get this out of the way, yes the City of Truro has a face! And is sapient! In fact, Truro might feature in a story and he complains that the show never gave him a face.
So, what makes an engine sapient, that is going to be addressed in the story. But since there is a magical element, and no it’s not Sodor coal as there are sapient engines outside of Sodor and they don’t use Sodor coal, the sapiency comes from something else. However, even when you have the ingredients, sometimes the locomotive will not be sapient. So, it is very rare.
In fact the A-1 Peppercorn called Tornado, the first steam engine to be built in the 21st Century, a lot of big deal went into him because once they put him together and fired him up, his face appeared, he opened his eyes and said “hi”. And the whole thing was documented on video. He became the first sapient engine to be built in the 21st Century. The A-1 Trust Foundation weren’t even sure that the engine would awaken and be sapient. And the fact that he did became a gigantic celebration for them. I’d say in Gordon and Dana’s universe, they coined Tornado as a literal miracle.
The engine that Dana drove formally, she is the Southern #4501…whom I call Bessie Mikado, is a sapient steam engine who actually is the boss and owner of the museum who “owns” her. She inherited the museum and the railway attached to it from her human “owner” upon his death. She has a bank account, she has lawyers, she has a secretary, she owns property, and she runs her business like a well oiled ship. And Bessie has quite a lot of collateral to throw around. So much collateral it’s why Gordon is able to follow Dana to the United States for their Lost in Alabama image. Bessie can also hire and fire people.
Bessie and her business partner Saul, a Consolidated locomotive and the Southern #630 were granted their citizenship thanks to the loophole that is written in the US Constitution. The same loophole I gave Kiryuu Knight to make him the very first computerized citizen. Just a little FYI, Gordon and Kiryuu are not in the same universe. But I still use the same loophole to grant Bessie her citizenship and rights. However, she still must follow railway rules.
Bessie is also one of the few steam locomotives to be granted a formal education, thanks to the invention of the Internet and online classes. She has degrees in both business and mechanical engineering. And she’s somewhat of a mad scientist always having her mechanics assist her in various experiments.
I will say that Bessie is basically the Kiryuu of this universe. With a very deep Southern drawl.
Bessie’s brother Daniel up at the Grand Canyon is treated like an employee there, not a piece of property. I’ve given a name to the Union Pacific #844…I call her Opal. She is the literal head of Union Pacific’s Public Relations department. Meaning she has humans who work under her.
When Gordon and Dana meet Opal on their little tour of the US, Gordon notes a certain level of professionalism with her as that would come with the territory of being in her particular position within the company.
So this could give you an idea of where the engines kinda stand at least in the United States as of the 21st Century.
Britain and Sodor, the line between being your own person, or being someone’s property are still a bit muddy. However, there was something that was passed in British Parliament and this came about because of Gordon’s brother the Flying Scotsman.
Scott is not famous for saving steam as he is in our universe, he is famous for bringing up the question of What Manner is a Non-Human in a legal sense for Britain when it comes to the treatment of sapient machines there. And that has to do with his trip to the United States and what nearly happened to him.
In our universe, the Flying Scotsman was nearly cut to pieces to pay off Pegler’s debts. The locomotive had to be stored in an Army base in order to protect it from loan sharks looking to carve it up. And the locomotive would have been stuffed and mounted in an American museum if it were not for a rescue effort to save the symbol of British pride and ingenuity.
Now let’s just put that into context within the universe of Gordon and Dana. They were literally willing to cut and harvest a living, “breathing” thinking, knowing right from wrong, being to pay off a guy’s debts.
Such an act sparked a civil revolution in Britain. The amount of protestors in the streets were staggering.
Which of course sparked the aspect of the US Constitution’s loophole to come in and try to save Scott. It’s why he was rescued from the cutter’s torch by the US army. The 1960s weren’t just about the desegregation of schools and blacks and whites finally being treated as equal human beings, it was also about whether or not these sapient machines should hold the same inalienable rights as humans under the US Constitution.
And when that was deemed affirmative, the United States Army took it under their wing to basically save a PERSON, namely Scott Gresley, from being MURDERED just to pay off another person’s debts.
There even was a condition that the US was making towards Britain in order to release Scott back to his home country. A condition further fueled by the support of Flying Scotsman fans and rights activists in Britain. Under no reason should Scott be dismantled and his parts sold off to pay anyone’s debts. For his existence, his body is his by his own right.
And THIS is why Scott Gresley became the Prince of Steam. The controversy surrounding the Flying Scotsman is what sparked the debate of whether or not these singular, sapient life forms had rights at all. After all, in our own universe, there have been many a thought that the steam engine is literally the closest thing that humans have ever come to building actual life.
In Gordon and Dana’s universe, they actually succeeded!
In Britain, the engines are more or less treated as second citizens, still very much respected for their rarity and what they represent to British heritage. However, Britain realizes the only jobs the locomotives can do are railway related. So, often a locomotive is “paid” in a way through maintenance and fuel.
But on Sodor, the engines are still seen as being owned by the railway, however, they are treated as people. And again paid in maintenance and fuel. And yes, this solves the issues of the royalties the Sudrian engines are owed for the Thomas and Friends franchise, as in…they’re not really owed any of that. And so far…no one’s really brought it up. Most of those royalties are paid to the Northwestern Railway itself.
Which brings to the question of what exactly do the drivers and fireman do inside a sapient locomotive’s cab?
And at last, under the context of this universe, I can finally answer that question! A lot, actually. They still have an importance to the engine, but in a difference sense.
Let’s just get this out of the way, the engines can move on their own. They also can accelerate and decelerate on their own. They have control over their friction brakes. In fact clinching the friction brakes is like clinching the glutes in humans. Since the engines do have brake lines full of brake fluid, they can control the expansion and contraction of the fluid to apply their brakes. For engines with air brakes, the engine controls the air passing through the hoses to brake. And this explains Scott’s deployable smoke deflectors, because they are in fact air controlled. And deployable smoke deflectors are a thing in some steam engines. Just ask the UP #4014.
The thing the driver must set is the “parking brake” or the “safety brake” which prevents an idling engine, or a resting engine from moving out of control, and allows the engine to relax its brake line. I mean you try keeping your glutes clinched for a long time, it actually will hurt.
While the engine can move the various valves inside the cab, there are times when those valves can a bit difficult to move depending on ambient temperature and weather conditions. So the assistance of the driver and fireman are greatly needed. And then there’s the insurance issues when dealing with a life form that’s as heavy or heavier than the heaviest biological life form in the world. So for safety reasons the engine does need its crew when going out on a job.
If the steam engine still requires a fireman to shovel coal into its firebox, the fireman will still do that job. However, some coal burning steam engines like Bessie have mechanical stokers that are steam driven and pretty much Bessie shovels her own coal.
Opal on the other hand is an oil burning steam engine, and has an atomizer. And that too is steam powered. So she fuels herself. But she still requires humans to put oil in her tender.
Bessie, thanks to her money, has managed to get a deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Norfolk and Southern to send her a supply of coal for the museum on a coal train’s way to one of the fossil fuel plants. However, she is making plans to be converted to waste vegetable oil like her brother in the near future.
The engine can only control the brakes within its own body, but not that of the rolling stock. Humans are still required to control brakes in the rolling stock.
Bessie solves this problem with diesel powered coaches and their more advanced dynamic braking. Opal does the same. The Sudrian engines who don’t have diesel power rolling stock, still have to use a brakeman at the back to assist in braking the rolling stock they pull. Though there maybe plans to upgrading the Wild Nor’wester to have diesel powered coaches for Gordon in the future. Especially once the Fat Controller sees Bessie’s special Christmas coaches and just how luxurious those are.
Speaking of rolling stock. There are no sapient rolling stock. It just doesn’t make sense in the context of how the engines are sapient to make the rolling stock sapient. And yes that means Annie and Claribel!
But since this is a story that focuses on Gordon and Dana, you’re not gonna miss them that much.
Some interesting notes on the engines, particularly the steam engines themselves are naming conventions and their differences. Which can vary from locomotive class to locomotive class.
Some steam engines see their designer as being their parent of sorts. Both Gordon and Scott see Sir Nigel Gresley as their father, and have taken on the Gresley surname. Thomas’ “father” is Lawson Billinton. So Thomas Billinton.
Henry is an odd one out given his uh…construction prior to his rebuild after his wreck. However, after the rebuild, Henry had basically been adopted by Sir William Stanier. So, Henry Stanier.
The American engines do things a little different. It’s not the designer that’s important, but what plant you came from.
Bessie does carry the name of Mikado thanks to her class, however, she uses it as her middle name. Her full name is Bessie Mikado Baldwin, as she was built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Because she was the first of the American Mikados, she is often referred as Ms. Mikado or Southern Ms. Mikado.
Bessie does have a cousin in Sodor…that being Porter who works with Salty. Porter is also a locomotive built at Baldwin Locomotive Works, so he full name is Porter Baldwin. Even Hank, the Pennsylvania K-4 who one off character from that episode would carry the surname of Baldwin as he too was also built by Baldwin.
However, there was a behind the scenes bit that Hank originally was supposed to be a UP Challenger-class 4-6-6-4. Effectively making him the FIRST articulated locomotive to work on Sodor, and certainly the heaviest. However that was thrown out when they didn’t have enough money to throw together a proper model for him. So his basis was changed to the Pennsylvania K-4, a locomotive Gordon ended up turning himself into for the Great Race.
If I want to, I could change Hank back to his original Challenger basis.
Yeah, the only articulated locomotive shown on the show…and who would crush the British loading gauge, uses a similar name style that Bessie does. Sam is an Allegheny-class 2-6-6-6 built by Lima Locomotive works. So Sam’s full name is Sam Allegheny Lima as like Bessie, he uses his class as his middle name.
Saul is a little different. Because his builder is the American Locomotive Company, abbreviated to ALCO, he and his younger cousins Opal and later on the Challenger UP #3985 and the Big Boy UP #4014…all use the surname of Amerigo, for Amerigo Vespucci, the man who basically named the Americas. If I decided to change Hank back to his Challenger basis, I might assign him as the UP #3985, which would change his name from Baldwin to Amerigo. But I did want the UP #3985 Challenger to be female just for some gender diversity in the articulated locomotives. So I may keep Hank a Baldwin.
And Hiro is definitely an odd man out. He’s a Mikado from Japan, but doesn’t use the Mikado as a middle name, since the Japanese don’t use middle names at all. And given Japanese naming conventions…he would have his surname first. So it’ll be Kawasaki Hiro because Kawasaki is the company that built the Mikado-51s.
I haven’t figured out the diesels’ naming convention just yet though.
The adding of the surnames for the steam engines actually makes humans see them more like people rather than machines which helps move them away from being someone’s property, and more towards personhood.
