I've been interested in Thomas & Friends since I was a little kid. I used to watch the show itself on and off, whenever I'd happen to catch it while flipping through channels, but what I really got a kick out of was the toys. See, my mother raised me on her own. Being a single mother, she had to bring me with her practically wherever until I was old enough to be left alone by myself. Whenever she'd take me grocery shopping, she would leave me in a daycare area dubbed the Eagle's Nest. Anyway, this place had a whole bunch of fun activities to keep us kids entertained while our parents were off shopping.

My favorite thing to do there was marvel at the lovely train set they had. It was a Wooden Railway set, and I freakin' adored that thing. Between watching whatever movie they had playing on the tiny television that was in there, I'd be fuckin' around with the cool train toys and being, like, five. Those were the days, man.

Now unfortunately, I forgot about the series for like... I don't know... quite a freakin' bit. After all, I'd grown out of the show, and was then into other stupid stuff. :P However, that all changed sometime... like... I don't know, two years ago as of writing this. It was during that time (when I was, like, 20?) that I found out about a little something called Shed 17. Now, if there's any Thomas fans reading this, I'm sure they just groaned in distaste, annoyance, and utter disgust. For that, I am sorry. But yes, I got reintroduced to the fun train show via the disturbing animation that a lot of people hate. :(

Anyway... if you're weird and/or are a follower of mine, you might be wondering why I hadn't drawn anything related to Thomas if Shed 17 is what reignighted my interest. After all, it's been two whole years. Where's the train fanart, Ren? Well! It didn't take just one watch. No, it took like... fuck, dude... three re-watches? And binging the rest of that dude's channel.

I really couldn't tell you what the hell prompted me watching the show again. All I do know is that it started on my 22nd birthday when I posted a certain image to my art site. Fanart of James! The splendid red engine. Drawn as a humanoid. The description simply read, "it's my birthday, i get to post silly pictures of childhood special interests". Here's a handy link, in case you're curious.

Now then! Please allow me to be heavily autistic.

...is my favorite character in the series. He's such a narcissistic little bastard. He's just adorable! He's obsessed with his splendid red paintwork! He boasts about himself constantly! He's just so stupid! I love him. I love him dearly. Of course, he isn't always a total prick to his fellow locomotives. James does have his moments of being a good engine! Being kind to others, helping them out n' all! But still. He's a vain asshole. And for that, I am giving him a big 'ol smooch.

So, funny thing. Instead of jumping into the television series when getting back into Thomas, I decided to watch a whole, whole bunch of YouTube videos on it. I got stuck on TheLuckyTug's (RIP his original channel) videos for weeks and weeks, I freakin' LOVE his videos. However, I also found a couple other dudes who also make interesting train-related content! And since I really enjoyed them, I thought I'd give them a shoutout here!

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I have a little collection of Thomas-related things going. What I currently have is...

• The Original Railway Series: The Classic Library by The Rev. W. Awdry
• ERTL Gold Rail Series James
• Thomas the Train Pillowtime Pal 15"(-ish)

All of which have been acquired from eBay!