Dirty Colossus

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***Dirty Colossus*** is the seventh episode of the tenth series of *The Dark Railway Series*.

## Plot

With the railway now facing a locomotive shortage as well as a coal crisis, Zeke starts to panic. Nobody is willing to loan the railway any engines because of word about the bad coal spreading, and Zeke is forced to turn to Mr. Smash for help. The decision is made to put all efforts into finishing Colossus' restoration to allow him to help with the crisis. To speed up the process, Colossus declines the offer to be repainted, opting to remain in his grubby, service-era paintwork.

After several weeks of hard work, Colossus is finally in steam. He is taken for a test run which he thoroughly enjoys. Most importantly, he has no problems with the bad coal and is promptly put into service. Most of the engines are grateful for his help and find him fascinating to talk to, but Clyde takes issue with his dirty appearance. He confronts Colossus about it one morning, asserting that the passengers will complain, only for the big engine to shut him down by countering that he has always looked dirty and that nobody has complained yet. When Clyde rants to the others in the shed that night, Warrior accuses him of only attacking Colossus because De la Trip is no longer around to target and tells him to drop it.

Clyde continues to make nasty remarks about Colossus, leading to another angry confrontation with Eustace and 257. Warrior breaks up the argument as it starts to turn physical, and reprimands Clyde again, reminding him that the whole reason for his staying on the railway was to help out rather than be the instigator of arguments. Clyde spends the night considering his actions, and realises that he has been selfish and chooses to apologise to Colossus when he next sees him. As he takes on coal, however, a strong gust of wind covers him in coal dust. As a punishment for his behaviour, his crew ignore Clyde's pleas to be cleaned and take him out looking filthy, much to his humiliation.

Clyde returns to the sheds that evening to a chorus of laughter from the others, mainly from 257. Surprisingly, Colossus is the one who tells them to stop, stating that being dirty does not affect their work, which is all that matters. As things die down, Clyde apologises to Colossus. Not only does Colossus accept the apology, but he even sympathises with Clyde's struggles with his transition to a steam engine and offers him support. With this, Clyde realises that his feud was pointless, and that it's time to put all of his feuds on the railway to rest and actually be helpful to the railway as he had initially promised to be.

## Characters

* Dave
* Raymond
* Sir Eustace Missenden
* Eddie
* 257 Squadron
* Colossus
* Clyde
* Ryan
* Warrior
* Zeke Dark
* Mr. Smash
* Abomination (*does not speak*)
* Goose (*does not speak*)
* Mr. B (*does not speak*)
* Buzz (*does not speak*)
* Buck (*does not speak*)
* Hammond (*does not speak*)
* Brian (*cameo*)
* Turbo (*cameo*)
* Andy (*cameo*)
* Colin (*mentioned*)
* Hannah (*mentioned*)
* De la Trip (*mentioned*)
* Mr. Chairman (*mentioned*)

## Locations

* Galen Junction
* Caracus Smash Ltd
* Galen Junction Railway Museum
* Manston Fore
* Merecombe Shed
* Merecombe
* Walschurch (*mentioned*)
* Upway Bank (*mentioned*)

## Trivia

* The ending credits foreshadow the events of the following episode.