What would they be meant to identify with, then?

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they don't feel like they have to identify with a particular character.

When they watch a train crash episode, for example, they don't run into walls afterward, they pick up their trains and crash them together.

> for example, they don't run into walls afterward, they pick up their trains and crash them together.

Oh, mine do both.

Crash into the couch.

"Bust my buffers!"

Children's shows generally teach lessons, which is why I assumed that children are meant to identify with the trains.

I identified the trains with the real trains that went past the house.

It's not too unusual to hear a young boy talking about Thomas while waiting for or in a train. It's often been the only real conversation I can understand elsewhere in Europe. ("Which one is this?" "It's red mummy, this is James!")