In Sri Lanka, the railway or locomotive was called "yakada yakka". Yakada means iron or steel in Sinhalese language and yakka means demon or devil. For Sri Lankans used to the peaceful bullock cart, the introduction of these steam locomotives by the British was a bit of a culture shock at first. But later as Sri Lankans grew to love the iron devil trains (as they do today) the name took on a more affectionate tone. Also yakada yakka when repeated fast out loud sounds a lot like the sound trains make when travelling over the rail joints. (Try it yourself!)
This drawing was inspired by a logo designed by Gehan Chandika for the Facebook Sri Lankan railfan group calling themselves Yakada Yaka. His logo is based on the Class M2 diesel-electric locomotives built in Canada by Electro Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors. These locos entered service in the late 1950s and most of them are still in daily service today despite some being affected by civil war and tsunami. Gehan's logo inspired me to look towards the iconic devil dance masks of Sri Lanka. The drawing above is a fusion of all these elements.
