The Railway Children
Page 20
PUFFIN CLASSICS
THE
RAILWAY CHILDREN
With Puffin Classics, the adventure isn’t
over when you reach the final page.
Want to discover more about your favourite
characters, their creators and their worlds?
Read on…
CONTENTS
AUTHOR FILE
DID YOU KNOW?
WHO’S WHO IN THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT…
SOME THINGS TO DO…
GLOSSARY
AUTHOR FILE
NAME: Edith Nesbit, better known as E. Nesbit (as an author); Daisy (as a nickname)
BORN: 15 August 1858
DIED: 4 May 1924
NATIONALITY: British
LIVED: born in London, E. Nesbit lived all over Europe during her childhood, then as an adult lived predominantly in Kent and London
MARRIED: to Hubert Bland, 1880–1914, and to Thomas Tucker, from 1917 onwards
CHILDREN: Paul, Iris and Fabian (Bland) were her own children, but she brought up Hubert Bland’s other children – Rosamund and John – also as her own
What was she like?
Edith Nesbit was a mischievous, tomboyish child who grew into an unconventional adult. Known as Daisy by her friends, she was constantly looking for fun and adventure with her siblings. She was unable to settle at any of the boarding schools that her mother sent her to and ran away on more than one occasion. She refused to act as society expected her to. Instead, she wore what she liked, cut her hair as she liked and didn’t hesitate to voice her opinion on a whole range of subjects. Although she was outspoken, she was always very sociable and well liked. Despite her life being dogged by financial difficulties she was very generous and gave so much away that she was almost bankrupt when she died.
Where did she grow up?
Because Edith’s sister Mary was a sickly child, the family lived in many different places in an effort to improve her health. While she was growing up, Edith lived in Brighton, Paris, Bordeaux (and a number of other French towns), Spain and Germany. They finally settled in Kent after Mary died and spent three idyllic years in a place called Halstead Hall. Edith spent some of her happiest childhood days there, playing with her brothers beside a railway, writing poetry and swinging in a hammock, and it was, without doubt, the source of inspiration for many of the books that she wrote in later life. When Edith was seventeen years old, they moved to London.
What did she do apart from writing books?
Edith and her first husband were keen socialists. This meant that they believed property and wealth should be shared fairly. They were among the founding members of the Fabian Society – a society which was a great influence on the early Labour Party – and edited the society’s journal. They even named their son Fabian! Their home became a centre for socialist and literary discussion. Their friends included some of the greatest writers and thinkers of the time, including George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells.
Where did Edith Nesbit get the idea for The Railway Children?
The years that she spent at Halstead Hall, playing with her brothers in the railway cutting at the back of the house, left a great impression on her, and these exploits come alive in the pages of the book. However, the story is also based on a period of her early married life when she had to support her family financially (as her husband was ill and his business partner swindled him), and so, like Mother in the story, she took her responsibilities very seriously and began writing furiously.
What did people think of The Railway Children when it was first published in 1906?
The book was very well received and enjoyed immediate success. Nesbit was hailed as ‘the first modern writer for children’ because she wrote realistically about children tackling problems and experiencing emotions that readers could empathize with. Obviously, the story is full of adventure, but it is set in a true-to-life situation and thus achieves the perfect balance between being pleasurable to read and offering valuable lessons to learn. To this day, The Railway Children has never been out of print.
What other books did she write?
Nesbit wrote over forty books for children, including most famously: The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, The Phoenix and the Carpet and Five Children and It. Her list of publications also includes many adult works and books written in collaboration with others.
DID YOU KNOW?
The first steam engine was invented by Richard Trevithick. On 21 February 1804 his ‘Penydarren tram road engine’ pulled ten tonnes of iron and seventy men a distance of ten miles along a railway line in south Wales. The engine’s top speed was five miles per hour, but this was considered a great improvement on the slow progress made by horses hauling wagons.
Trevithick’s locomotive was considered a novelty and he died a poor man, but his idea was developed and, in 1829, Robert and George Stephenson unveiled the Rocket; the first ‘safe’ passenger train.
By 1845, in the UK alone, there was a network of 2,440 miles of railway line carrying 30 million passengers per year.
Steam trains were superseded by the invention of electric and diesel trains in the 1950s.
Work began on the American railroad, which spans the United States, in 1868. Today, the fastest train in America is the electric Amtrak train.
Until 2004, the fastest commercial train in the world was the German InterCity, recorded to have reached a top speed of 243 miles per hour.
Since 2004, the fastest commercial train in the world has been in China – the high-speed maglev that connects Pudong airport to Shanghai. The train reaches a top speed of 267 miles per hour. Interestingly, a German company manufactured the Shanghai Maglev. The idea of an ‘electromagnetic levitation train’ (first invented by German engineer Hermann Kemper) has been around since 1922, but there is still much debate about its efficiency and impact on the environment.
Rail enthusiasts, commonly known in the UK as trainspotters and in the US as railfans, are sometimes known by the following nicknames: foamers or rail buffs (US), grizzers or gricers (UK), gunzels (Australia). Amongst themselves, they use the term ferroequinology (literally, the study of iron horses)!
WHO’S WHO IN THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
Mother – the children’s mother. She is very involved with her children and before their move she devotes her time to playing wonderfully inventive games with them. When she becomes the wage earner for the family, she has to pour her energy into writing, but she still makes time for her children. A cheerful and determined lady, she has a caring nature and is rarely cross.
Roberta/Bobbie – the eldest of the three children and our main protagonist. Bobbie (aged twelve) is spirited and fiercely loyal. She is also very perceptive and feels responsible for her siblings and her mother. It is Bobbie’s campaigning that ultimately brings Father home.
Peter – the middle child. Peter (aged ten) is usually the ringleader, and is honest, brave and adventurous. Sometimes he is a little gruff with his sisters, but underneath he has a sensitive nature and harbours an intense fondness for them both. He is passionate about trains and engines.
Phyllis – the youngest of the three children. She always means well, but is often clumsy or too quick to act. Phyllis has a lovely carefree nature, but is often out to prove herself to her older siblings.
Father – the children’s father. He works for the Foreign Office and is mostly absent in the novel, as it is his wrongful imprisonment that causes the family to move. However, he is clearly a very well-loved family man and we learn of his even temper and sense of fun.
Aunt Emma – Mother’s older sister, who visits on her way to being a governess abroad. She is a no-nonsense character and the children view her as austere. Yet, when they first arrive at Three Chimneys, they are grateful for her thoughtful packing which provides them with some supper, and later with waterproofs and gaiters in which to explore.
Mr Gills/Station Master – a kind, hum
orous man in charge of the station. His first meeting with Peter is when he catches him stealing coal, but he decides that they will never mention it again, and he is as good as his word and welcomes the children’s presence at his station.
Old Gentleman – an elderly gentleman who, in many ways, is the children’s saviour. To begin with, they wave at him every morning as he travels past on the 9.15 train, but he then becomes involved in their lives when Bobbie writes him a letter asking him to help out with supplies for their sick mother. He is more than generous on this occasion and also responds wholeheartedly to Bobbie’s request to look for the Russian’s family. Ultimately he investigates their father’s imprisonment, and is instrumental in his release.
Perks/Porter – a friendly, no-nonsense chap who gets to know the children through their regular visits to the station. They spend a lot of time sitting chatting to him and strike up a firm friendship. He shows himself to be a proud man when he has to be persuaded to accept gifts from the villagers on his birthday, refusing any charity for his family (although it is badly needed).
Dr Forrest – a charming and good-humoured man, with a natural affinity with children. Dr Forrest is very attentive to the family despite them being unable to pay him for his services and, like everyone who knows them, quickly becomes their friend.
Jim and Bill – the fireman and engine-driver of the train that Bobbie inadvertently becomes a stowaway on when trying to get someone to mend Peter’s toy engine as a surprise. They are charmed by Bobbie, and Jim gets his second cousin’s wife’s brother to oblige!
The Russian/Mr Szczepansky – a famous author who was sent first to prison, and then to the Siberian mines, for writing a book about the plight of the poor people in Russia. When he came to England to look for his family, he lost his money and became very ill, which is when the children found him – getting off a train at their station. Their mother takes him in and nurses him until he is reunited with his family.
Signalman – the man that Phyllis and Peter find sleeping on the job when they are looking for someone to help them rescue ‘the hound in the red jersey’. They are most offended when he offers them money to keep his secret, but he turns out to be a good man who just acts wrongly because of sleep deprivation as his son has pneumonia.
Jim/‘the hound in the red jersey’ – the boy that the children rescue from the tunnel when he breaks his leg during a race. As ever, they take him back to Mother, who nurses him, and they discover, by happy coincidence, that he is the old gentleman’s grandson.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT…
At the start of the novel, Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis lead an idyllic life and want for nothing, yet, due to their father’s wrongful imprisonment, things change quite dramatically for them. How do you think their characters develop as a result of their new lifestyle? And, ultimately, do you think they have benefited from the experience? Can you think of any other ‘riches-to-rags’ stories?
Bobbie has been compared to Jo March in Little Women because of her resilience and resourcefulness; can you think of some similar modern-day protagonists?
The contemporary British scriptwriter Martin Jameson has written a radio play about the three children as adults, and their jobs and aspirations. What kind of people do you think Phyllis, Peter and Bobbie would grow up to be? And what modern-day careers do you imagine they would have?
The children meet many different people during their time at the railway – who is your favourite character in the story, and why?
SOME THINGS TO DO…
Some readers of The Railway Children find it frustrating that E. Nesbit doesn’t include us in the family reunion at the end of the book. Imagine how each of the children and Mother would react to this happy event and write your own final chapter.
Imagine you are the director of a new stage production of The Railway Children. Think about who you would cast in the lead roles, and how you would present the station and trains on stage. What lighting, special effects and sounds would you use?
The 1970 film of The Railway Children is considered to be one of the all-time family greats. As well as this, it has been adapted for television series four times and as a made-for-television film in 2000. List all the things about the story that you think make it such a good one to adapt for the screen.
Of the three children, we get to know Phyllis the least because she doesn’t have any adventures without her brother and sister. Using the backdrop of the railway, write a chapter in which Phyllis is the main character.
GLOSSARY
almanac – an annual publication containing reference material for a particular activity or area of interest, in this case the railway
ammonite – the coiled, chambered fossil shell of an extinct mollusc
Avenging and Bright – refers to a song by the Irish poet and songwriter Thomas Moore; written in 1811 and sung to the tune of an old Irish air
biograph – a film projector
brake-van – guard’s van; a wagon at the back of the train for the guard to use, but also from which he can control the train’s brakes
brazing – soldering; joining or fixing of metal at a high temperature
brick – old-fashioned name given to someone of a generous or decent nature
catechism – a book giving a basic summary of the Christian religion, in question-and-answer form
chaff-cutting machine – a machine for cutting up straw and hay into chaff to create cattle fodder
cindery – full of cinders (a partly burnt substance, e.g. coal, that produces no flame but is still capable of burning)
corn-chandler – someone who sells/deals in corn
Crambo – a game in which a player gives the opposing team a word or line of verse to find a rhyme to
crusty – gruff in manner
dogcart – a two-wheeled cart drawn by a horse, accommodating two passengers sitting back-to-back (originally containing a box under the seat for sportsmen’s dogs)
ether – a highly flammable liquid used as an anaesthetic
fastness(es) – a stronghold or place of refuge
furze bush – gorse
gaiters – a type of legwear similar to leggings (often made of leather) to protect the legs from mud or rain
horse bean(s) – a large type of field bean used as food for horses
jaw – to talk continuously
larks – a light-hearted escapade
lath – a narrow, flat strip of wood
Latimer (Hugh) – a sixteenth century Protestant martyr who was burned to death in 1555
lawk a mercy – an (old-fashioned) expression of surprise
limb – a mischievous child
pap – something lacking real value or substance
Pax – said by children to indicate a truce
perambulator – a pram
prig – someone who behaves self-righteously or with particular conformity to propriety
rip – an immoral person
rum – odd, peculiar, strange
settle – a wooden bench with back and arms
shindy – a lively argument
shunting – the act of moving (by pushing or pulling) a train from one railway line to another or on to a siding
sleepers – the crosswise supports to which rails are attached
smelts – small silvery fish
snarky – critical; short-tempered
Stalky – the main character in Rudyard Kipling’s Stalky & Co. stories, which are set in a boys’ boarding school
tender – a vehicle attached to a steam locomotive to carry water or fuel
wax – a state of anger
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