Summary Updated - Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat

Overview Skimbleshanks is an essential, unofficial supervisor on the Night Mail train. Though he has no formal job title or pay, he is indispensable to the train’s smooth overnight operation. The poem presents him as a fastidious, alert, and cheerful figure who ensures everything runs on time.

"There's a whisper down the line at 11.39 / When the Night Mail's ready to depart, / Saying 'Skimbleshanks is on the train' – / Then it's off at last, with a start." Cultural Note In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats , Skimbleshanks is portrayed as a tap-dancing railway cat, embodying the rhythm and energy of the train itself. skimbleshanks: the railway cat summary