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Thursday 22 March 2012

Locotoons by Kumaran

Locotoonstm Revived!

"LocotoonsTM by Kumaran"
M2 icon
 by
Gyan Fernando
Class M2 GM EMD G12 locomotiveSometime in the year 2002, Kumaran of Singapore did a series of delightful caricatures, of  Sri Lankan locomotives of the M Class as well as other trains, exclusively for my website. 
I cannot remember whose idea it was originally but it does not matter now.
They were drawn in his usual style of "Humanising" locomotives and in the process of drawing them, he gave them feminine personalities! 
I called them "Locotoons tm by Kumaran"

Given the limitations of my original website I don't think many people actually saw them but they do appear on a Google search and have been plaigiarised.

Unlike other things in life, cartoons never really age. I thought that they were worth a second life and have reproduced them here
Do go on and indulge yourselves!

They were published between the 16th of August 2002 and the 9th of March 2003, except for two because they were not in the M Class.
They were published without any commentary on my part except for the following:
 
Why are all the Locotoons® feminine? All the named railway services in Sri Lanka have feminine names. The first were "Ruhunu Kumari", "Yal Devi" and "Udarata Menike". Then came "Podi Menike", "Uttara Devi" etc. For instance Udarata Menike (lit: "Upcountry Lass") runs between Colombo and Badulla. Ruhunu Kumari ("Princess of Ruhuna") runs between Colombo and Matara. (The other names defy translation ...)
Kumaran has reflected this in his Locotoons®
Click images for bigger images
Class M1 Brush Bagnall
Class M1 Brush Bagnall
Class M2 General Motors EMD
Class M2 General Motors EMD

Class M4 MLW Bombardier
Class M4 MLW Bombardier
Class M5 Hitachi
Class M5 Hitachi
Class M6 Henschel Thyssen
Class M6 Henschel Thyssen
Class M8 DLW Varnasi
Class M8 DLW Varnasi
Class M7 Brush
Class M7 Brush
Class M3 Locally built
Class M3 Locally built
.

Class M9 GEC Alstom
Class M9 GEC Alstom
Class S1 English Electric
Class S1 English Electric
Class S5 Hitachi
Class S5 Hitachi

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