The Spiteful Brakevan

The Spiteful Brakevan

Background information

**First episode**
"The Trouble With Trucks"

Character information

**Full name**
The Spiteful Brakevan

**Other names**
* NW Brake Van

**Age**
Unknown (*Brake Van*)

**Home**
Island of SodorEngland (*formerly*)

**Friends**
* Donald and Douglas
* James
* Troublesome Trucks

**The Spiteful Brake Van** was a troublesome brake van, who was subsequently crushed into pieces by Douglas, on the back of James' goods train.

Personality
Like the Troublesome Trucks and as his name implies, the Spiteful Brake Van was spiteful, very rude, disrespectful and incredibly impolite to the engines, especially Donald and Douglas.

Technical Details
Basis
In the television series, he was based on a BR 20 ton one. The Toad D van was derived from the earlier Toad B van.

The Spiteful Brakevan's basis
Livery
The brake van was painted in a livery paint mixture of grey and brown.
His Bachmann models portray him in his BR 20 ton brake van form, but retain his Railway Series livery.

Appearances
Television Series* **Season 1** - The Trouble With Trucks (does not speak), A Scottish Tale (cameo) and Frank and the Trucks
* **Season 3** - Rickety's Revenge, S.C. Ruffey and the Foolish Freight Cars, Donald Visits the Scrapyard and Frank and Fred the Orange Coal Car (does not speak)
* **Season 4** - All For One and One For James (cameo), Sir Handel and the Brakevan and A Mighty Branchline (does not speak)
* **Season 8** - Frank and the Fib (cameo) and Runaway At The Runway (cameo)
* **Season 9** - Mavis and the Sleepy Engines (cameo)
* **Season 10** - Scruff and S.C. Ruffey
* **Season 11** - Fergus' Day Off (cameo), Stepney and the Bluebell Branchline (cameo), Station Situation (cameo), Duncan in the Dumps (cameo), Just Duck's Luck (cameo), Hank and the Hatt St Crossing (cameo), Trembling Trevor (cameo) and BoCo and the Cocoa (cameo)
* **Season 12** - Stafford's Electric Slide, Truckus Ruckus (flashback; cameo) and Sidney the Renegade (cameo)
* **Season 13** - Duck and the Quack Attack (cameo), Sideplates and Skirmishes (cameo) and Hector and Logan's Hot Pursuit (cameo)
* **Season 14** - Cabless Companions (cameo), Hugo Takes Flight (cameo) and S.C.Ruffey's Sweet Tooth
* **Season 15** - Flash Gordon (cameo)
* **Season 16** - Bulstrode Barges In (cameo), Knock it Off, Stanley (cameo) and Ace in the Hole (cameo)
* **Season 17** - Tender Love and Care (cameo), Sidney Transplant (cameo), Diesel Gets the Bronze (cameo) and Toby, Or Not Toby (cameo)

Specials* Thomas and the Storm (does not speak)
* Claw of the Law (cameo)
* Oliver's Eleven (cameo)

He also appeared in a Discussion.

Trivia* In the magazine story Donald and Douglas, the Spiteful Brake Van is portrayed as a standard van.
* The Spiteful Brake Van sustains a black eye due to being crushed by Douglas. This marks the first time an engine, rolling stock, or vehicle suffers a physical injury to their face.
* One of the Spiteful Brake Van's face masks would later be used on a Troublesome Truck.
* The Spiteful Brake Van has only been named NW Brake Van in the Wooden Railway line.
* Along with Annie and Clarabel, the Spiteful Brake Van is one of the many rolling stock characters whose basis is different in *The Railway Series* and television series.
* The Spiteful Brake Van's Ertl description card incorrectly refers to him as a "*guards engine*" and incorrectly says that "*He does, however, work very hard with Donald and Douglas to keep the trucks in order*", even though he was causing trouble for the twins and was actually encouraging the trucks to cause trouble which resulted in him getting crushed to pieces by Douglas.
* The Spiteful Brake Van's Wooden Railway toy depicts him in his Railway Series livery, with a face and shape based more on his Railway Series counterpart that his Television Series counterpart.
* Several trucks in the annual stories Galloping Sausage, Rusty Red Scrap Iron, Old Square Wheels and Donald and the Breakaways have Spiteful Brake Van-esqe faces due to being based on a Series 2 reference photo of a truck with the van's angry face.