Cammer

"*A while ago, I was working near a farm, and a goat came out of nowhere and slammed into me several times, hitting me with it's horns, and damaging my bufferbeam! I've not liked animals ever since!*"
— Cammer, Cammer, Colin and Cows

* **Class**: BR Class 20
* **Designer**: English Electric
* **Build date**: 1958
* **Configuration**: Bo-Bo
* **Arrived on the DR**: 1967
* **Scrapped**: 1969

**Cammer** was a small mainline diesel engine who lived on the Dark Railway.

## Bio

Cammer was built in 1958 at Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns.

At some point in his early life, Cammer was working near a farm when he was suddenly attacked by a stray goat, which rammed into him and damaged his bufferbeam, thus giving Cammer an immense fear of animals. For much of his early life, Cammer worked closely wth his twin brother, Jason, and spent many years travelling with him. Tragically, in 1966, the two engines were at Southampton Docks when Jason was struck by another train. His driver was killed and Jason was scrapped. The accident traumatised Cammer and left him alone to wander the country on his own for months, until he wound up at Raxas Heath, failed whilst hauling a goods train to the Dark Railway.

Dave helped him finish his journey, and the big green engine quickly found out that Cammer was due for withdrawal. While Dave was away on a passenger train, Cammer was taken down to Colhapper, where he believed he would be scrapped. Luckily, Mr. Dark, who was in need of another goods engine, came to see him and decided to purchase him from British Railways. Cammer returned to the DR a few weeks later, having been mended and repainted, and was mainly assigned to work on the branch line to Soma, pulling trucks of ballast to and from the quarry. He recieved sympathy from the other engines because of the fate of Jason and his early withdrawal whenever he went out onto the rest of the line.

Cammer's fear of animals quickly came back to haunt him, as he was tasked with taking a loaded cattle train from Walschurch, and the cows escaped from their pen and surrounded him. Colin arrived and saw the cows off, and Cammer explained his fear. Colin, Leno, Theo and Otto were sympathetic towards him, but the bigger engines teased him greatly. When Turbo arrived on the railway, Cammer was tasked with showing him around the line, and as he was then unnamed, he tried to find a name for him. After learning about his experimental turbocharger, Cammer came up with the name Turbo. Later on, after Eddie learned that Colin was in a relationship with his sister Ellie, Cammer convinced him to let them be happy, and persuaded him to apologise before they left for the Severn Valley Railway.

When Abomination arrived on the railway and expressed his desire to pull a train, Cammer told him that he didn't think he was up to it due to his speed. When he refused to relent, Cammer gave up and told him to take his goods train that afternoon. He was later delayed, only to find that the tank engine had actually taken the train in his absence. This made Cammer furious, but his anger faded when the tank engine admitted that pulling trains were not all they were cracked up to be.

One evening in 1969, Cammer was at Galen Junction with Colin and Owen discussing an incident involving Repulse hitting something when the shed suddenly erupted into flames. All three engines lost their lives in the fire with their remains being scrapped. Dave and Leno were hit particularly hard by Cammer's death. Cammer's ghost was later summoned by Pogo to help defeat Leanne's ghost, and when the job was complete, Cammer told the engines that he would be alright as he would be reunited with Jason again before moving on to the afterlife. Cammer's builder's plate was later displayed in the Galen Junction Railway Museum as a memorial, and his ghost briefly appeared in front of Dave one night in the museum.

## Persona

Cammer was a fairly laid back and overall friendly engine, but he has a fear of animals that he is quite embarrassed about. Cammer has been seen to be rather level headed on occaisions, too, and rarely jumps to conclusions.

## Livery

Cammer was painted in British Railways green, with small yellow warning panels. Before his withdrawal from BR, he was painted in BR blue with full yellow warning panels.

## Basis

Cammer was based on the British Railways Class 20 Bo-Bo, which were nicknamed "Choppers" due to the whirring sound that came from their engines.

## Appearances

### The Dark Railway Series

Episodes:

* Series 4 - Traction Reaction, Cammer, Colin and Cows, Owen's Woes, The Big Bad Wolf, Turbo, Instant Crush, and Pogo Rides Again (*mentioned*)
* Series 5 - What a Catch! (*does not speak*), Abomination, Signal Lost, Haunted Hannah (*cameo*), Ed and Sid, Claim to Fame, Repulse (*cameo*), and Time Waits for No One, Part 2
* Series 6 - Ouverture, Trepid (*cameo*), Fustercluck, Ed, Ed and Eddie, Asphalt Assault (*mentioned*), Burnin', 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 - Colossus (*mentioned*) and Short Circuit (*mentioned*)
* Series 9 - Pogo / Mere Anarchy (*mentioned*)
* Series 11 - The Times (*mentioned*)
* Series 12 - Outrage (*mentioned*)

Specials:

* The Aspergers Flyer
* You Bang Snowploughs

## Trivia

* Originally, "Cammer" was supposed to be introduced in Series 3, and was to have been a BR Class 33 (in keeping with the location of the railway, in Southern Region territory). However, for unknown reasons, the creator held off his introduction until Series 4, where he was changed to be a BR Class 20.
* Prior to his death in The Prime Time of your Life, Dark DJ had originally mooted the idea of Cammer being sold off to another group who would later break him up for spare parts.
* Dark DJ said in a Q&A livestream that he regrets writing Cammer out of the series.