Axel

**Axel** is a Belgian streamlined engine who participated in the Great Railway Show. He was a contender in the Great Race.

## Biography

### *Thomas & Friends*

Axel, along with the other international engines, accidentally arrived on the Island of Sodor when the ferry they were travelling on stopped at Brendam Docks instead of the Mainland. He was the engine approached by the Dock Manager to explain their presence and was informed they had got off at the wrong place. Embarrassed, Axel proceeded to order the other engines back onto the ship.

Axel competed in the Great Race alongside Gordon (known as "the Shooting Star" at the time), the Flying Scotsman, Spencer and Etienne. He spent the majority of the race in last place, but after Scotsman slowed to express concerns on the explosion of Gordon's boiler, he managed to overtake Flying Scotsman and finish third.

After the Great Railway Show ended, Axel left the Mainland and returned to Belgium.

## Personality

Axel is a smooth, streamlined tender engine built for speed; Effortlessly cool, his good looks and style have made him very popular with fans of steam.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Axel is based on an NMBS/SNCB Type 12. One of these locomotives, 12.004, is preserved at the Train World railway museum in Brussels, Belgium.

Axel's basis

### Livery

Axel is painted red with black and yellow lining, the same colour scheme as the Belgian flag.

## Appearances

* Television Series
* Other Media

### *Thomas & Friends*

* **Series 23** - Grudge Match (*stock footage cameo*)

#### Music Videos

* **The Great Race** - The Shooting Star Is Coming Through (*does not speak*)
* **Series 21** - Let's Set Friendship in Motion
* **Series 22** - All the Girls Around the World

#### Videos

* **2016** - Axel of Belgium (*does not speak*)
* **2017** - Gina the Smart Steam Engine (*cameo*) and Axel Goes to the Mountains

### Books

* **2016** - 6-Movie Coloring Collection (*not named*), Off to the Races! (*cameo*), The Great Railway Show (*not named*), The Great Race (*not named*), The Great Race: Sticker Activity Book and The Great Race: The Movie Storybook (*not named; does not speak*)
* **2017** - Thomas and the Trains of the World
* **2018** - Character Encyclopedia
* **2019** - Engines Around the World

## Voice Actors

* Rob Rackstraw (*UK/US*)
* Kunihiro Kawamoto (*Japan*)
* Marcos Patiño (*Latin America*)
* Achim Buch (*Germany*)
* Leopoldo Ballesteros (*Spain*)

## Trivia

* Axel is the second French-speaking engine in the series, the first being Millie and the third being Etienne. He and Etienne are the first standard gauge French-speaking engines in the series. Despite that though, Axel isn't from France, though he may have come from a french-speaking territory.
* He shares Luke's whistle sound.
* Axel's Take-n-Play toy has a few errors:
	+ His tender is backwards, although this was fixed on his Adventures/Collectible Railway model since it has two-way connectors, and aren't one directional. This could also be fixed by using the Adventures to Take-n-Play adapters as well.
	+ He has buffers at the back of his cab above the magnet.
	+ His Take-n-Play prototype had Vinnie's tender repainted; this was corrected on his final model.
* His name is possibly derived from a photograph of his basis taken by **Axel Vermeulen**.
* His name means "Father of Peace".

## Merchandise

* Take-n-Play (*discontinued*)
* Adventures (*sold only in Around the World Friends 10-Pack; discontinued*)
* Collectible Railway