Hal, it's about trains

electric trains and steam engines just never had serious historical rivalry. Electric motors mopped the floor with them by the ragtime era, especially in commuter service and heavy freight because they are VERY good at starting/stopping vs steam engines, amazing uphill (steam engines are atrocious at this to the point it’s a repeated Thomas plot) and don’t have to drag their own fuel around. The latter two were very appealing to rich coal hauling railroads and mines, not dealing with hauling coal around to refuel dozens of steam engines vs one central power plant saves a lot of hassle (and maintenance makes it even more extreme)

Steam engines in the US are actually very offended by being seen as minorities, because they are demons who hated being alive and oppressors, not victims! Black culture is universally pro-train because rail was an opportunity for freedom since the mid-1800s, because of this they gloss over negative traits of steam engines because they’re all friendly trains to them. In the latter half of the 20th century, electric trains developed VERY similar economic and social politics to Black people because of their presence in cities left to rot or destroyed by “urban renewal” and car culture. They’re widely but covertly Black-coded in the news because of this (exaggerated claims of subway crimes, “welfare queen” adjacent rhetoric about transit funding). You could also draw comparisons to other minorities in the US, but in terms of real life, electric trains are way more Black coded than most think. Just look at Amtrak ads! Also note that transit advocates and enthusiasts are way more diverse than people into steam engines… it’s actually a huge issue that it’s almost entirely old white men and they’re struggling to expand their volunteer pool because they’re viewed as less accepting than they are!

British steam engines are kind of different spiritually and do see themselves with more of that victim mentality due to the engrained culture there. This is a VERY white and specifically British thing with few ties to Black American culture (other than some music). They’re more tied to industrial decline there, and hate Thatcher! There’s similar core issues of refusing to adapt post-WWII but some very deeply engrained cultural stuff with unions there that’s way out of my depth.

Electra works VERY well as a Michael Jackson figure who’s a celebrity who can’t often speak directly and is constantly threatened and slandered by media! Electric trains have VERY similar issues with media to a lot of Black celebrities in general, especially in the 70s-80s! It’s a shame the show and fandom rarely pick up on this, because it’s such a powerful and nuanced concept and a way to write Electra in a train-accurate way without slogging through all that history… you can largely write them as MJ with the serial numbers filed off and say a LOT! Electric trains WERE violently suppressed and destroyed en masse in the US and have suffered slow decay in… a lot of countries the last few decades and it’s very hard for them to reach audiences outside their historic regions, so a celebrity figure would be very powerful for them and irl electric trains LOVE getting photos taken and art made of them! Almost all public-facing trains do, but unloved ones get very desperate (SEPTA loves photos and will show you heritage units if you take pics of random stations and trains and speak positively about them)

Banks Rail on youtube is imo the most useful and important source for modern US electric trains, especially if you want to work with Stex’s original themes, and especially with Electra. He’s heavily focused on the economic politics and publicity angle that translates best to Electra’s celebrity status (and vulnerability). He’s a rare Black voice in the transit youtube sphere, which is very important in terms of understanding how racist anti-electric train messaging and economics is irl. Very beginner friendly!

electric trains and steam engines just never had serious historical rivalry. Electric motors mopped the floor with them by the ragtime era, especially in commuter service and heavy freight because they are VERY good at starting/stopping vs steam engines, amazing uphill (steam engines are atrocious at this to the point it’s a repeated Thomas plot) and don’t have to drag their own fuel around. The latter two were very appealing to rich coal hauling railroads and mines, not dealing with hauling coal around to refuel dozens of steam engines vs one central power plant saves a lot of hassle (and maintenance makes it even more extreme)

Steam engines in the US are actually very offended by being seen as minorities, because they are demons who hated being alive and oppressors, not victims! Black culture is universally pro-train because rail was an opportunity for freedom since the mid-1800s, because of this they gloss over negative traits of steam engines because they’re all friendly trains to them. In the latter half of the 20th century, electric trains developed VERY similar economic and social politics to Black people because of their presence in cities left to rot or destroyed by “urban renewal” and car culture. They’re widely but covertly Black-coded in the news because of this (exaggerated claims of subway crimes, “welfare queen” adjacent rhetoric about transit funding). You could also draw comparisons to other minorities in the US, but in terms of real life, electric trains are way more Black coded than most think. Just look at Amtrak ads! Also note that transit advocates and enthusiasts are way more diverse than people into steam engines… it’s actually a huge issue that it’s almost entirely old white men and they’re struggling to expand their volunteer pool because they’re viewed as less accepting than they are!

British steam engines are kind of different spiritually and do see themselves with more of that victim mentality due to the engrained culture there. This is a VERY white and specifically British thing with few ties to Black American culture (other than some music). They’re more tied to industrial decline there, and hate Thatcher! There’s similar core issues of refusing to adapt post-WWII but some very deeply engrained cultural stuff with unions there that’s way out of my depth.

Electra works VERY well as a Michael Jackson figure who’s a celebrity who can’t often speak directly and is constantly threatened and slandered by media! Electric trains have VERY similar issues with media to a lot of Black celebrities in general, especially in the 70s-80s! It’s a shame the show and fandom rarely pick up on this, because it’s such a powerful and nuanced concept and a way to write Electra in a train-accurate way without slogging through all that history… you can largely write them as MJ with the serial numbers filed off and say a LOT! Electric trains WERE violently suppressed and destroyed en masse in the US and have suffered slow decay in… a lot of countries the last few decades and it’s very hard for them to reach audiences outside their historic regions, so a celebrity figure would be very powerful for them and irl electric trains LOVE getting photos taken and art made of them! Almost all public-facing trains do, but unloved ones get very desperate (SEPTA loves photos and will show you heritage units if you take pics of random stations and trains and speak positively about them)