>>6031034As a Rangerfag I've seen some variation of this argument for the past two years. (Saban had two choices for the next Power Rangers show--trains or ninjas. They chose ninjas.)
In the United States, we do. Not. Have. Passenger trains. There are subway systems in a few major cities, which are hardly the same thing, and Amtrak, which is a poorly maintained and barely used train line with limited service in certain parts of the country. It's fair to say most children have never seen or ridden on a passenger train. Our freight trains are old, ugly, covered in graffiti, and mainly seen as a nuisance if you live in a small town that was built up around the train tracks decades ago before trains became obsolete. I promise you there are no trains still running that resemble the kind seen in toy train sets, unless they're purposefully maintained as a novelty or tourist attraction, like riverboats are in parts of the Midwest.
American children don't have the same fascination with trains as kids in countries where railroads are vibrant and active. Thomas the Tank Engine is made to appeal to very young children who are captivated by bright colors and friendly faces, and the fact that the characters are trains is kind of secondary (they could just as easily be cars or boats or planes). That's like saying, well, kids like Mater from the Cars movies, ergo kids must like junky rusted out trucks from the 1950s without the anthropomorphized elements just as well.
