Lovely picture - but why do we say "She" when a locomotive has a male name.  Or is it because the locomotive was in drag at the time the picture was taken?

Steam locomotives are often referred to as 'she' due to a long-standing tradition where machines, like ships, are personified as female, reflecting their nurturing and protective roles. This practice is rooted in historical language usage and the emotional connections drivers develop with their locomotives.

Gendering of Steam Locomotives

Steam locomotives are often referred to as "she" due to a combination of historical, cultural, and linguistic factors.
Historical Context

    Tradition: The practice of calling ships and locomotives "she" has been a long-standing tradition in maritime and railway culture. This custom likely stems from the idea of ships and locomotives as protectors and nurturers, similar to maternal figures.

    Personification: Many engineers and drivers develop a personal connection with their locomotives, treating them as living entities. This emotional bond often leads to the use of female pronouns.

Linguistic Origins

    Language Evolution: The word for ship in Latin, "navis," is feminine. This linguistic background has influenced how various cultures refer to ships and, by extension, locomotives.

    Cultural Associations: In many cultures, machines like locomotives are seen as powerful yet requiring care and maintenance, traits often associated with femininity.

Modern Perspectives

    Debate: While many still refer to locomotives as "she," some argue against gendering inanimate objects, viewing it as outdated or unnecessary. However, the tradition persists in many railway communities.

In summary, steam locomotives are referred to as "she" due to historical traditions, emotional connections, and linguistic influences, although this practice is increasingly debated in modern contexts.

That will be good news and happy to be proved wrong. 

'I've always loved trains - now I'm qualified to drive one'


Logan Smallwood has always been fascinated with trains from an early age

For as long as he can remember, Logan Smallwood has never been far from a train.

Inside his bedroom sits a huge collection of models, some tucked safely away in boxes, others sitting out proudly for all to see. But the 18-year-old's love for all things locomotive travels far further than his County Durham home - he has now become one of the youngest-known qualified train drivers in the UK, according to his instructor.

It is a step he says which brings him closer to his dream of working on mainland trains across the UK. "I've always loved trains, I have just loved anything that can move, any kind of machinery, transportation, I have always been fascinated by it," he said.

The teenager, who graduated from Newcastle College Rail Academy with a distinction in his Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering Technologies, recently completed his first operational solo shift on the Weardale Railway, a heritage line in County Durham.

Powering a Sentinel shunter, which has a top speed of 17mph and is typically used to manoeuvre railway vehicles in goods yards, he said the experience "feels like where I belong".


The train lover has loved all things locomotive since an early age

"Driving through the wonderful countryside down in Weardale is lovely," he said. "I really enjoy it but I don't focus on what I feel like, I'm just absolutely loving driving it, loving the scenery."

Logan began volunteering at the Weardale Railway - an 18-mile heritage line which sits in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and runs from a connection with the main rail network at Bishop Auckland to Eastgate in Weardale - in April last year, shortly after he finished secondary school.

"Weardale runs trains that I adore and it has got little steam locomotives for the bigger diesels, which is one of the attractions for me, I love working there," he added.


Logan says he absolutely loves the feeling of controlling the train

"I've always said when I grow up, I want to be a train driver, but there's a lot of different safety aspects in becoming a train driver. But Weardale Railway put me through all my assessments and I apparently I picked everything up, no bother."

In the UK, the minimum age to drive a train has been lowered from 20 to 18, which Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced in May as a way to tackle driver shortages.

Logan, from Lanchester, has ambitions to become a mainland train driver and says his family are "proud" of his achievements so far. "My mum is really proud of me, when she find out I got my shunter certificate she was almost in tears and my family say I am getting closer to my dream," he added.

As part of his volunteering role at Weardale, Logan also takes people on to the shunter to demonstrate how it works.


Logan pictured driving a train for the first time as a child

Wayne Dixon, technical rail advisor at Weardale Railway and Logan's instructor, said he was confident the teenager is one of the youngest train drivers in the UK. "Logan is an exceptional young man who clearly has a future in rail, he was literally banging on my door when the opportunity came along for him to train as a sentinel driver," he said. "As well as being able to drive the locomotive, he is also expected to talk to customers. I'm sure this is just the start of a long career for Logan and I'm pleased I've been able to help him on his way."


Logan's childhood hobby is helping him into the world of work

In his spare time, Logan takes to the tracks in a different style, as a member of the Blackhill model club in Consett. He is one of three members who designs full layouts of model railways, with about 60 different model Hornby trains, and about 100 wooden railway trains that form part of his collection.

"I could sit there and watch them for hours," he said. "Trains are still an older generation hobby but there's a few younger people starting to get into it. My great-grandad worked in the mines and he was always fascinated by trains. He gave me a coal model of a Silver Link and I think that might have been what set me off."

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18 has been delayed at Swindon and is now 13 minutes late.
This is due to a late running train being in front of this one.

I suspect you were headed, then, to Cuxhaven

[snip]

That's more than 100 very invisible people! 

Johnneyw is closer, but not close enough..

Germany as a whole has a large and inherently variable wind power source, the fluctuations of which already dictate generation patterns across Europe, and Cuxhaven is in the middle of prime wind territory - onshore, offshore, and on Heligoland. So the idea of banking electricity when it's surplus to usability in the form of hydrogen might even work there, if it can anywhere. Provided someone stumps up for all those electrolysers, of course.

But basically it's just another step in a long development and proving process for hydrogen trains, and an encouraging one on the whole.

14:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 17:14 will be terminated at Worcester Foregate Street.
It has been delayed between London Paddington and Reading and is now 38 minutes late.
This is due to an object being caught on the overhead electric wires earlier today.
Last Updated:30/08/2025 17:09

15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 18:29 is being delayed at London Paddington.
This is due to an object being caught on the overhead electric wires.
Last Updated:30/08/2025 16:55

I'm thinking of Flensburg now.

I went and had a look at the work on the new walkway this week and I will be really surprised if it is ready by the end of the month.

Hopefully I will be proved wrong but they still haven't put in place all the pre-cast concrete sections that make up the walkway and then they would need to clear up the site and move all the barriers, signs etc. before it could be used.

Unlikely as that would be doubling back from Hamburg. 

Bremen perchance?

Why is it some people think we all want to hear their phone conversations, the music they are playing or tv programs/films?

It’s definitely something that’s got much worse over the past couple of years.

And yes, woe betide anyone who challenges them to put headphones/ear buds in.

Almost, but no cigar Grahame. It's the last one that's wrong, not on the list of alternatives you have suggested.

If you (or anyone else) want to finish the puzzle, it's a destination that is within the range of distances from Hamburg suggested by Grahame......

Lovely picture - but why do we say "She" when a locomotive has a male name.  Or is it because the locomotive was in drag at the time the picture was taken?

...  'Lord Dowding' is in too good a condition for that (she was bereft of nameplates after 1966!) ....

Each year, more than 100 people take a three-hour cruise down the River Exe estuary in Devon… naked.

The Nude Cruise has been run for its 13th year in a row

Perhaps the owners of children should be fined a similar amount if the children make too much noise.

It's a sunny Saturday in August and the bus Rachel is driving in Sussex is nearly empty. There are just three passengers on the lower deck.

But despite how empty it is, the bus isn't quiet - because someone is watching rugby without headphones in.

When Rachel asks the passenger to turn his phone down because it's distracting her, he calls her "the most miserable bus driver I have come across in my entire life" and gets off the bus in a huff.