Maxen

"There is nothing wrong with our designs.
Apart from they're out of date.
They're not out of date. I for one thing am one of the greatest designs of frieght locomotive ever built.Our designers found the best policy in locomotive design, and stuck by the winning formula."

— Maxen and Colin, Eddie and Maxen

Maxen
Number: 5670 Class: GWR 5600 Class Designer: Charles Collett Build date: 1926 Configuration: 0-6-2T Scrapped: 1964

Maxen was a Great Western tank engine who once worked on the Dark Railway.

Bio

Maxen was built on August 31st, 1926 at Swindon Works. At some point during his life, he met Eddie and took him under his wing, helping him through different problems. Maxen became very proud of being Great Western, and became a radical supporter of it, fighting with everyone who wasn't Western.

In 1962, Eddie and Maxen were brought to the Dark Railway to help with the goods work. Almost immediately, Maxen developed a rivalry with ex-Midland engines Dave and Colin, resulting in a very heated exchange of insults about their former companies. That same day, Maxen and Colin were sent to Merecombe Industrial Estate, where Maxen ended up blowing his cylinder, forcing him out of traffic for several weeks. Maxen's radical behaviour soon made him unpopular with the rest of the engines, and he took to sleeping at Soma.

Eventually, Eddie confronted Maxen over his behaviour, only to have Maxen denounce him as a friend and call him a traitor to the Great Western Railway. A few days later, he was taking a goods train to Merecombe, when his brakes failed and he crashed through the buffers at the end of the station, leaving him dangling over the edge of the cliff below. Dave was sent to help him, but deciding that Maxen had gone too far with his outburst at Eddie, he pushed Maxen over the edge of the cliff, sending him plummeting into the ravine below. After Maxen was lifted out, he was told by Mr. Dark that he would be returned to the Western Region who would decide what to do with him. Eddie took him to Galen Junction, where he told him that he would be staying on the railway and that he would no longer follow him. Maxen was then dragged away, calling Eddie a traitor at the top of his lungs.

Maxen was taken back to the Western Region, and it was decided that he was damaged beyond repair, and he was scrapped at Cashmores in Newport not long afterwards.

Persona

Maxen was abusive, prejudiced, and took great pride in his Great Western heritage.

Livery

Maxen was painted in BR unlined black with the late crest when he came to the Dark Railway. Beforehand, he would have been painted in plain GWR green.

Basis

Maxen was based on a GWR 5600 Class 0-6-2T. These were often known as "Taffy tanks", given that these engines primarily worked in Wales.

Appearances

The Dark Railway Series

Episodes:

• Series 2 - Eddie and Maxen, Some Kind of Fuel (does not speak), and Taking Out the Trash
• Series 3 - Like a Sir (mentioned)
• Series 4 - Instant Crush (mentioned)
• Series 7 - Futura (mentioned)
• Series 8 - Colossus (mentioned)
• Series 10 - Quack Attack (mentioned)
• Series 11 - The Times (mentioned)

Trivia

• Maxen was originally supposed to be a permanent member of the Dark Railway fleet, and his persona was less unsympathetic. This was changed because of problems with the creator's old laptop, which struggled to record Maxen and his movements. Hence why he was quickly written out of the series.
• Maxen was originally going to appear in the Angry Welshman Productions series Gary the Steam Engine. In the tenth episode, he would have been sent to Newport (hence Dave's mentioning as such in Like a Sir), and would annoy the engines before being taken for scrap by the other characters and possessing classmate Jason. However, in 2014, Rhys Davies announced that Gary the Steam Engine had been cancelled, which made Dark DJ change Maxen's fate to being scrapped almost immediately after leaving the railway.
• Maxen's Scottish accent came about after Dark DJ attempted to perform a Welsh accent for the character.
• Maxen was mentioned in the fourth episode of The Stovell Valley Railway Series by the character Earl. In the episode, Earl mentions that Maxen is part of a "Great Western Culture Preservation Society" along with Hinderton Hall.