Aster

I think maybe the most gentle Rusty I’ve ever seen?? Everything was sung so softly and so sweetly that it’s impossible not to see this guy as anything but gentle and kind and I sob a little bit inside whenever I remember that, he’s just a godamn good guy!!

Gained absolute MILAGE from those pockets. Spent most of his time on stage with his hands in his pockets looking like he was trying to compact himself to be as tiny as possible (borderline impossible when you’re tall and jacked)

Therefore: guy who knows he’s big and tall and scary and spends his life trying not to be big and tall and scary

Also also: finally a Rusty that I can truly believe is a hauler. Twinky tenor Rustys are OUT strong baritone Rustys are IN

Became very silly around Pearl and I adore that. Kept peeping around Momma and Electra in the rap to cheesy grin and wave at her

His Starlight Express is the first one to make me cry! I cried at Jeevan’s starlight sequence but not starlight express, and Lewis GOT me. Makes up for the songs being everrrr so slightly out of his vocal range by having the most beautiful falsetto, and the last verse of Starlight Express got me on the sheer value of how it sounded like he was going to sob.

All round, just gorgeous singing. It’s a literal fucking crime they never let you hear him as Porter

He’s either constantly on the verge of bursting into tears or a trigger hair away from absolutely losing it with anger, Rusty who has to keep taking deep breaths to make sure he doesn’t have a breakdown and/or punch someone

Was never mad at hydra ever. I fear I may be about to be thrown down a rustrogen hole again bc calm awkward gentle giant/excitable creature that has to be peeled off the ceiling is my favourite dynamic. Hydra and Belle were really playing into each other last show but let me have this.

Got really viscerally beaten up by the engines. Eagle stomped him and his entire body went about 30cm off the ground

Absolute fucking speed demon, I have NEVER seen anyone scale those ramps as fast as he does

Was trying to convince Porter and lumber to race with him during wide smile and looked really sad they said no ;-;

There were so many covers that I’d never seen on last night but I fear any thoughts I may have had about them are gone in the overwhelming blaze of ‘LEWISTY????’ So bare with me

Take the freightlings doodles to make up for it 💔

Now back to being dead/j

Rusty and the freight trucks clearly represent the working class. Their original costumes were designed to resemble worn-in work clothes. Even in the current Bochum production, Dustin still has that same blue collar aesthetic.

While Rusty being terrorized by Greaseball and his gang is often discussed, what gets far less attention is how the coaches treat the freight trucks. In Freight, the trucks introduce themselves with a song/chant, similar to other character groups. But immediately, the coaches start insulting them by calling them “dumb trucks,” saying “the lights are on but nobody’s home,” and mocking them as “40 tons of empty chrome”, etc. These insults rely heavily on tired stereotypes about blue collar workers being unintelligent or crass.

Later versions of the show even add complaints about the trucks being “too loud,” despite the fact that their volume isn’t noticeably different from any other group. Dustin is arguably the most soft spoken character in the show, Flat Top speaks gruffly, the Rockies speak in rhythm, and Caboose speakers in a friendly, charming way to feign innocence. The coaches’ comment about them being “loud” is a thinly veiled way of policing working class expression, which is something that often happens in real life too.

What’s often missed is that Freight isn’t a two-sided argument, the coaches instigate the fight. In the original lyrics, the trucks never insult the coaches or passenger work, they only talk about how they think that “freight is great.” In The New Starlight Express they push back with a line about passengers being too noisy, and even then, it comes across more as a response than a direct attack.

The coaches’ classism is also evident in their treatment of Rusty. In Call Me Rusty, it’s evident that they don’t respect him the same way they do other engines. They openly mock him when he talks about his dream to race and end the song by beckoning him childishly (“come on Rusty, good boy Rusty”).