Tintin Forums

Railways have always caught my attention since I was young. Tintin do travel by train and I thought of drawing Tintin in the controls of a GM-EMD Locomotive.

I want to ask if do you think Tintin is somehow, a railfan. Because in Tintin In America, he managed to drive an American Steam Locomotive well. And I just don't understand how he could drive a steam loco well individually as 2 people are required to operate it which is the engineer and the fireman.

Did Tintin know where is the regulator and all that stuff as if it was him driving a diesel, it would be fine as it is way easier to operate then a steam loco. But, a steam loco, that is way out of my head.

Maybe Herge just didn't know how hard it is to operate a steam locomotive, or that it required two people. Tintin in America is just bristling with inaccuracies. As an American, I can vouch for that.

Or maybe at whatever school Tintin went to, they taught single-handed train-driving along with all the lessons in stunt driving, plane and helicoter piloting, shooting, horse riding, etc. I wish I'd gone there!

Tintin in Amrica was written before Hergé started documenting himself, and was inspired by the movie serials, were the hero could do practically anything.

As for Tintin travelling by rail in the early episodes, I believe that is due to the fact that it reflects the periods during which the books were written, rather than being an fan of railways or small planes.

I doubt that many people could do the things that Tintin does, especially in the earlier books. Logic wasn't a huge factor in the Tintin series until The Blue Lotus. Maybe the only thing that Tintin can't do is listen to opera!

Well, he seemed to be doing that all right in some books, but maybe he wasn't really listening.