Real Fat Controllers
"Day out with Thomas" events are a popular way of raising money for heritage railways. These events are an opportunity for children to meet characters from the books and television series (or at least, engines that have been "dressed up" to resemble them). These events are invariably presided over by a Fat Controller, played by a railway volunteer of appropriate age and build.
The copyright holders are strict about how these volunteers should appear: the South Devon Railway's Fat Controller was forced to either quit or shave off his beard, and it is absolutely forbidden for a Fat Controller to be too thin. In the United States, on the other hand, he is often portrayed by a person in a costume.
Read more about this topic: The Fat Controller
Famous quotes containing the words real and/or fat:
“The real leader has no need to lead—he is content to point the way.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)