Mr. B

* **Class**: BR Class 04
* **Designer**: Drewry Car Co.
* **Build date**: 1955
* **Configuration**: 0-6-0DM
* **Arrived on the DR**: 1971
* **Voice Actor**: Christian Rasmussen

**Mr. B** is a small diesel shunter owned by Caracus Smash who lives on the Dark Railway.

## Bio

Mr. B was built on July 28th, 1955 at the Vulcan Foundry. At some point in his life, he was purchased by Caracus Smash for use in his scrapyard moving locomotives and rolling stock. In 1969, he was used to shunt Hannah after she arrived at the yard for repairs to her cylinders.

Mr. B moved to the Dark Railway following the relocation of Caracus Smash Ltd to Galen Junction in 1971. After Buzz arrived on the railway, Mr. B was outraged to learn that he was being kicked out of his shed so that Buzz's charging station could be installed in it. He was moved to the Dark Railway Preservation Society's shed where he admitted to Five that he would be glad of a change of scenery. When Buzz began complaining about running out of electricity while working at Soma, Mr. B complained that he never got to leave the yard and explore. Five suggested that they ask their owners to swap jobs, and when they agreed, ownership of Mr. B was transferred to the DRPS. Both engines were much happier in their new jobs, and soon became good friends. After De la Trip began causing arguments with the others about being non-Southern engines, Mr. B blackmailed him into silence by threatening to reveal his secret. This worked for some time, but after De la Trip angrily berated 257 Squadron one evening, Mr. B finally revealed that, contrary to his past claims, De la Trip was in fact built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. Mr. B was involved with a wild chase with Allan involving one of Mr. Chairman's custard creams. He later took part in the diesel strike.

Mr. B would later butt heads with newcomer Goose over his protests and animosity towards Mr. Chairman. When Goose blocked the entrance to the DRPS' shed, Mr. B hurt his gearbox in his attempts to move him. The pain in his gearbox continued to affect him for several weeks, culimating in an incident where he lost control of a line of trucks in the snowy weather at Soma and shattered his gearbox altogether in his efforts to stop. He ending up running all the way down the line to Axley, where he was slowed on the gradient, rescued by Goose and taken to the works. The runaway resulted in the viaduct to Soma collapsing after he crossed it, trapping Andy and Abomination at the quarry. Mr. B was out of traffic for a long time, as his gearbox was beyond repair forcing Mr. Smash to source a replacement from his builders. He was finally repaired in time to join the other diesels in listening to Halloween stories, and after Andy scoffed at the idea of ghosts he concocted a plan with Buzz to pay him out with a staged haunting at Soma.

In 1978 the DRPS found itself facing significant financial difficulties. To cut down on costs, it was decided to withdraw Mr. B from service, much to his dismay. He remained out of traffic for several months, even after Goose failed with a cracked cylinder as the society stubbornly refused to listen to Mr. Chairman's pleas. After being brought to see Mr. Smash one evening by Buzz, he revealed he wanted to come back to the works full time. Mr. Smash met with Mr. Chairman a few days later, and to everyone's surprised he agreed to sell Mr. B back to him on the spot. The arrangements were made in secret, and Mr. B was placed under Mr. Smash's ownership once again. He became an enforcer in keeping others out of the works while it was closed, clashing with Theo and Otto in the process. He came to see Andy off before he left the DR. After Rick was built, Mr. B talked to him about what it would feel like to pull a train for the first time.

## Personality

Mr.B is very friendly and also very truthful and will stand up for his friends as seen in Face to Face. He can also be random at sometimes as seen in Rock 'n Roll when he had an intense panic.

## Livery

Mr. B is currently painted in British Railways green with yellow and black wasp stripes and the BR late crest on his cab sides.

## Basis

Mr. B is based on a British Railways Class 04 diesel shunter.

## Appearances

### The Dark Railway Series

Episodes:

* Series 6 - Apply Overnight (*cameo*)
* Series 8 - Revolution 909, De la Trip, Face to Face, The Great Custard Cream Robbery and Short Circuit
* Series 9 - 9, Goose, Rock'n Roll, Rock Shock (*cameo*), Time Wasted (*mentioned*), Extend Extra (*does not speak*) and Wipeout (*mentioned*)
* Series 10 - Body Angels, Tunnel Vision (*does not speak*), Dirty Colossus (*does not speak*), Quack Attack (*mentioned*) and Buckin' Hell
* Series 11 - The Times (*mentioned*), Relations (*mentioned*), Since Then, Puppets, Further, Sundowner (*mentioned*), Chord Memory and The Brickenkopf (*mentioned*)
* Series 12 - Ventura, 1202, Fresh (*mentioned*), Night Beats, What To Do (*mentioned*), Outrun (*does not speak*) and Eternal Feedback (*mentioned*)

Specials:

* Phantoms Can't Hang

## Trivia

* Mr. B is named after Mr. Bobinsky, a character from the film *Coraline*.
* In his first appearance, Mr. B was seen carrying nameplates, but these were replaced with the BR crest for all subsequent appearances. This was due to a different reskin of the Class 04 model being used for Mr. B from series 8 onwards.