Ponies pulling trains in "Over a barrel" seems out of place

[Never2muchpinkie 208]

So I was rewatching the episode "Over a barrel" and I suddenly had a thought: Why are ponies pulling the train?  I know it was a later season episode but "MMMMstery on the friendship express" shows them using a coal power source to move the train.

 

Even in a magical world of ponies the thought of even 4 strong stallions being able to pull a train seemingly ALL NIGHT and into the morning without even appearing winded just feels ridiculous and out of place, and it bugs me. A pony being a taxi I can accept, because it's like the concept of a rickshaw in Asian countries, but 4 ponies pulling an entire train, complete with things like a tree on board seems impossible, even if Big Mac could pull a house while under the influence of love poison.

 

Even if you argue that it's not just running on the pull of the stallions that basically makes their purpose useless.

[Justin_Case001 4,857]

I only watched that episode once.  I didn't remember that the train was stallion powered.  Yeah, I guess that seems a little goofy.  Oh well.

 

I got a kick out of how that episode was basically Native Americans vs. the white man.  Woulda been nicer if real life had worked out the way that episode did.  :S

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Yeah that's why they stopped doing trains like that I guess.

[sweetolebob18 724]

Right  Over A Barrel was a 1st season episode & after that they apparently decided that it didn't make sense & stopped doing that.

 

However, tech in EQ is flat out weird.  Tech level is all over the place & it is like the ponies in 1 place have no clue what is going on elsewhere.  For instance Ponyville is very early 20th century & Manehatten is 1950s or later.

 

Maybe they were pulling the train because steam engines didn't work there.  (Like a dead zone w your cell phone)

[Pastel 7,627]

Maybe the train in Over a Barrel was an old one, and now they can build steam trains...

[paradoxical 1,735]

They need to kick start the train.  They run the first bit and the engine kicks in.  Occasionally the engine stalls and the stallions get it going again.

 

Continuity saved!

 

(or not)

 

True reason.  It wasn't funny enough to become a gag.

[Twilightlover6 193]

My theory is that the locomotive ran out of coal and they were backup.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Twilightlover6

[WriteCodes46 178]

The idea was that the steam locomotive hadn't yet been invented in Equestria, but the locomotive was added because it looked weird having the ponies just pull the cars. This was all stated by Lauren Faust.

 

Apparently they invented the steam engine between then and Season 2.

[sweetolebob18 724]

IRL, in the late 18th century James Watt remade steam engines into a more economically useful form.  The steam boat & the steam locomotive were both invented about the start of the 19th century.  IDK how long they have existed in EQ.  However, Manehatten seems to indicate that it has been more than a few years.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

Yeah, it was an interesting idea when it appeared in S1, but it kinda falls apart under scrutiny. If anything I'm glad it was ditched for the conventional steam engine.

 

But yeah, tech in FiM is a bit wonky.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

So I was rewatching the episode "Over a barrel" and I suddenly had a thought: Why are ponies pulling the train? 

 

It's just a visual gag. Best not to overthink it.

 

Otherwise you have to explain why in Party of One, Pinkie Pie is faster than Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow is stronger than Pinkie (who is an earth pony, and thus supposed to be very strong).

Edited February 8, 2015 by Vital Spark

[Buck Testa 5,503]

So I was rewatching the episode "Over a barrel" and I suddenly had a thought: Why are ponies pulling the train?  I know it was a later season episode but "MMMMstery on the friendship express" shows them using a coal power source to move the train.

 

Even in a magical world of ponies the thought of even 4 strong stallions being able to pull a train seemingly ALL NIGHT and into the morning without even appearing winded just feels ridiculous and out of place, and it bugs me. A pony being a taxi I can accept, because it's like the concept of a rickshaw in Asian countries, but 4 ponies pulling an entire train, complete with things like a tree on board seems impossible, even if Big Mac could pull a house while under the influence of love poison.

 

Even if you argue that it's not just running on the pull of the stallions that basically makes their purpose useless.

Normal everyday Pegasi have been shown to be able to bench at least a thousand pounds with their wings, Rainbow has been shown to be able to lift huge boulders into the air as she flies and throw them (maud pie episode, also friggin superstrong Maud Pie), big mac can tug an entire house along with him while skipping and in the comics accidentally destroyed a barn by hitting it too hard with his hammer. Its not out of the realm of possibility for four stallions to have this level of strength when all of ponykind seem to have extreme physical abilities that would outclass even our best athletes. 

 

Here's my head canon though:

The train they are tugging along has an engine if you look, but its not on. Perhaps it broke down and in order to keep with the deadline Stallions power is a backup plan? That's the explanation that makes sense to me anyway. 

[Never2muchpinkie 208]

 

 

big mac can tug an entire house along with him while skipping

 

And yet he's visibly straining, sweating, and his voice is rasping with a 10-15 pound cake on his back.   

[Buck Testa 5,503]

And yet he's visibly straining, sweating, and his voice is rasping with a 10-15 pound cake on his back.   

To be fair we don't know What that cake is made out of but yes...CONTINUITY! XD

[Fractured 2,683]

Well, Twilight casually lifts tons worth of weight, as indicated by the Ursa Minor and the bridge repairing scene. In the former scene, it's even shown that she's bracing that weight with her body, fitting under Newton's Third Law. Honestly shouldn't be that difficult for Earth ponies to do something similar, if not greater.

 

If you mean conceptually, then... well, yeah. It seems a little out of place, though I personally find it only a little different than the taxi service and Celestia's pegasi guards. Ponies using ponies to get around seems to be a common thing; what's weird here is normal there.

[RainbowTashie 378]

So I was rewatching the episode "Over a barrel" and I suddenly had a thought: Why are ponies pulling the train?  I know it was a later season episode but "MMMMstery on the friendship express" shows them using a coal power source to move the train.

 

Even in a magical world of ponies the thought of even 4 strong stallions being able to pull a train seemingly ALL NIGHT and into the morning without even appearing winded just feels ridiculous and out of place, and it bugs me. A pony being a taxi I can accept, because it's like the concept of a rickshaw in Asian countries, but 4 ponies pulling an entire train, complete with things like a tree on board seems impossible, even if Big Mac could pull a house while under the influence of love poison.

 

Even if you argue that it's not just running on the pull of the stallions that basically makes their purpose useless.

For the same reason there are still steam trains around now i guess. 

[Fluttershutter 2,122]

And yet he's visibly straining, sweating, and his voice is rasping with a 10-15 pound cake on his back.   

That cake was fifty pounds easy. And he was under a spell when he pulled the house.

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,706]

Right  Over A Barrel was a 1st season episode & after that they apparently decided that it didn't make sense & stopped doing that.

 

However, tech in EQ is flat out weird.  Tech level is all over the place & it is like the ponies in 1 place have no clue what is going on elsewhere.  For instance Ponyville is very early 20th century & Manehatten is 1950s or later.

 

Maybe they were pulling the train because steam engines didn't work there.  (Like a dead zone w your cell phone)

The most recent technology we've seen in MLP:FIM universe is arcade. So maybe show takes place at least in late 1970s.