Jabberwock Pt.9: Crane on the Train

A logical progression from the Train-tank was to go for the whole monster being rail-based.  Its not that far fetched, there were (and are a few surviving) locomotive-mounted cranes.  And in the context of Wonderland, there is a bit with Alice riding on a train in the world of the Looking Glass, so it would be feasible for there to be a railway in Wonderland on which this could run.

I liked the idea of a monster being on the railway, as it fitted in with all those Romanticist Victorian fears about what the train represented.  And there are some great ‘train monsters’ elsewhere in fiction, such as a wonderful illustration I saw of a demonic, somewhat anthropomorphic train in an old Victorian newspaper, and of course the mostly-cut “Nightmare Train” sequence in the film “Spiecies”, designed by the legendary artist HR Giger (where a train gobbles people up off the platform, in the planned -but never filmed- sequence). 

I did design it first this time, but the actual build was a little more improvised.  An unfortunate consequence of using the cheapo toy train as the basis is that it has come out looking a little too unlike a traditional British locomotive (finding a decently sized toy locomotive is tricky enough, and British prototypes all-but non-existent), but hey-ho, it shows the concept.

The bits and pieces are the usual haphazard assemblage of old model kit pieces, household junk, broken toys...

This is more of the sort of thing I ought to be aiming for, a proper veteran of a British tank locomotive, 1054, the Coal Tank, on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

PROS

It is a more typical design, and perhaps more logical in context than the ‘tank’ version.  It could indeed exist in the world, and meets the basic criteria I set out.  It was somewhat top-heavy though, in trying to make a tall, intimidating dragon-like creature-machine...

CONS

The idea needed  working through a bit more, not least because trains are massive.  I could, however, imagine building something more to ‘narrow gauge’ sizing, as some narrow gauge locomotives can be quite compact.  Needed work anyway…