Colin

Colin
Number: 47407, previously 7407 and 16490 Class: LMS Class 3F "Jinty" Designer: Henry Fowler Build date: 1926 Configuration: 0-6-0T Arrived on the DR: 1961 Scrapped: 1969

Colin was a tank engine who lived on the Dark Railway.

Bio

Colin was built on December 31st, 1926 at the Vulcan Foundry. He spent several years of his life working in a marshalling yard in Birmingham, where he met Dave for the first time.

In 1961, Colin was brought to the Dark Railway when Mr. Dark needed another engine to do odd jobs around the line. He got on well with the engines, and impressed the shunters with his knowledge. A few weeks after his arrival, he was asked to pull his first passenger train to Soma, but he accidentally left his coaches behind. This led to him being teased by the other engines, but visitor Dai supported him. In 1962, when Eddie and Maxen arrived on the railway, Dave and Colin developed a rivalry with the latter because of his rude remarks about anything not Great Western. After Eddie started believing he was hated because of his Western heritage, Dave and Colin apologised to him, and promised not to attack Maxen again. After Maxen left the railway, Colin and Eddie became best friends thanks to their love of football.

In 1964, Sir Eustace Missenden returned to the DR. Colin and Eddie claimed that he hardly did anything in spite of his many rests, so Mr. Dark offered to let them pull an express one morning. Unfortunately, Colin derailed on the points leading into Merecombe sheds, blocking any access in or out of the sheds. Later on, both Eustace and 257 Squadron failed while hauling a football special to London, allowing Colin and Eddie to take it instead.

When the Dark Railway fell into a financial crisis, Colin and Eddie travelled to Colhapper to steal some petrol wagons to sell off. While there, they came across an old engine called Leno, who was on the run from scrap. He was in quite poor condition, and despite their best efforts, Mr. Dark decided to send him away. Fortunately, Theo and Otto managed to find a buyer for the tankers who paid a very large sum of money for them, allowing Mr. Dark to purchase Leno and repair him, as well as getting them out of their financial issues. Colin was one of the last engines to be kidnapped by Leanne as part of her revenge against the DR, but was saved by the efforts of 257 Squadron and Dave.

In 1967, Colin helped Cammer out after a run in with some cows at Walschurch. When Eddie's sole surviving sister, Ellie, came to visit him, she and Colin began a relationship in secret, but when Eddie found out, he lashed out at them both. Deciding that they wanted to be together, with or without Eddie, Colin was given permission to travel with Ellie to the Severn Valley Railway. Before they could leave, Eddie made amends with them, and revealed that Mr. Dark had placed both he and Colin on loan to the SVR, allowing all three of them to leave together. In 1969, Colin and Ellie split up, and he and Eddie returned to the DR for the railway's steam gala. Shortly after their return, Colin felt like he was surplus to requirements now, though a rearrangement in the rota proved otherwise. He later helped an injured lorry driver after his lorry fell off the bridge above the line.

After Repulse was involved in an incident where she ran over a Rooster Teeth fanboy, the engines became suspicious about the circumstances behind it and with events following it. One evening shortly afterwards, Colin, Cammer, and Owen were at Galen Junction discussing the situation when they suddenly began to smell something. Seconds later, the shed erupted into flames. All three engines were lost in the fire with their remains being later scrapped. It turned out, a lesbian couple performed the attack. After it came out that Repulse was actually posessed by Leanne, Pogo enlisted the help of the three engines' ghosts to help bring her under control. When the job was complete, Colin asked the witnesses to tell Eddie he was sorry to leave him before moving on to the afterlife. Colin's numberplate was later displayed in the Galen Junction Railway Museum as a memorial, and Colin's ghost briefly appeared in front of Eddie one night in the museum.

As Eddie was left on display in the back of the museum, his psychosis took on the form of Colin, who began telling him that he was being forgotten about, upsetting him greatly. "Colin" continued to convince Eddie that nobody cared about him anymore, but after Eddie learned he was finally getting some company, he was able to stand up to his psychosis. "Colin" argued that Eddie would forget about him, but Eddie assured him that he would never forget him and was just finally ready to move forward, which "Colin" revealed was exactly what he was hoping Eddie would say. Satisfied that Eddie had finally let his emotions out, "Colin" departed, allowing Eddie to finally say goodbye to his friend, at least in some capacity.

Persona

Colin was a level-headed, thoughtful, and hard working engine, but is still friendly to engines who are friendly to him.

Livery

Colin was painted in British Railways unlined black livery with the late crest. Before nationalisation, he presumably wore LMS unlined black under both previous numbers.

Basis

Colin was based on a London, Midland and Scottish Railway Class 3F 0-6-0T, also known as the "Jinty".

Appearances

The Dark Railway Series

Episodes:

• Series 2 - Colin and the Coaches, Tenders, Allan (does not speak), Hide and Seek, Goodbye, Dai, Eddie and Maxen, Some Kind of Fuel, and Taking Out the Trash (does not speak)
• Series 3 - The Return of Sir Eustace Missenden, Like a Sir, 257 Squadron, Tender Moments of Tender Engines, BR Blues, Football Shortfalls, Poor Leno, Super 8, Who Goes There?, and Revenge of the Forgotten (cameo)
• Series 4 - Cammer, Colin and Cows, Tender Tantrum, The Big Bad Wolf (cameo), Turbo, Allan Does Galen (does not speak), Trucks, and Instant Crush
• Series 6 - Ed, Ed and Eddie, Plunk 'n Bang, Asphalt Assault, Burnin' (mentioned), and The Prime Time of your Life
• Series 7 - Rollerskate Disco (as a ghost; does not speak) and The Man in Overalls (mentioned)
• Series 8 - Face to Face and Colossus
• Series 9 - Pogo / Mere Anarchy (mentioned)
• Series 10 - The Road to Bellgrave (mentioned), Dirty Colossus (mentioned), and Quack Attack (mentioned)
• Series 11 - The Times (mentioned)
• Series 12 - Outrage (mentioned)

Specials:

• Pogo (cameo)
• The Missing Christmas Presents

Films:

• Event Horizon (mentioned)

Trivia

• When first seen in the series, Colin's model was that of kingtrain's freeware LMS 3F. However, from Series 4 onwards, Colin has the payware LMS 3F model developed by MeshTools, greatly enhancing his look.
• Colin is the second engine in the series to be seen in love, after Dave. However, his relationship with Ellie was genuine, whereas Dave's relationship with Leanne was a failure and based upon lies.
• Colin and Raymond have very similar numbers (47407 and 47527 respectively), thanks to the TOPS numbering system clashing with the British Railways steam classification. Though not seen in the series, this caused some problems when Colin first arrived, as shed staff assumed he was another Type 4 Diesel, and would roster him on to duties well outside of his design capabilities.
• Colin used to claim that he had a spotless service record. However, after his derailment in Series 3, he no longer has a spotless record.
• In Series Two, Episode Eight (Eddie and Maxen), right at the end of the episode, Colin is seen wearing the wrong number (47370) due to a filming mistake.