Colossus

* **Class**: L&NWR Class G2 "Super D"
* **Designer**: H. Beames
* **Build date**: 1922
* **Configuration**: 0-8-0
* **Arrived on the DR**: 1972

**Colossus** is a large goods engine who lives on the Dark Railway.

## Bio

Colossus was built on June 30th, 1922 at Crewe Works. Upon withdrawal from British Railways in 1959, he was sold to a scrapyard in Birmingham, where he languished for several years. He was placed at the back of a long line of engines and watched them all being cut up before him. Eventually, he was one of the only engines left in the yard, but before the scrapmen could reach him, he was suddenly purchased by Zeke Dark. Zeke brought Colossus to the Dark Railway and immediately placed him on display in the Galen Junction Railway Museum, as he would be a long term project. Colossus was later shunted alongside Eddie, who had been left alone at the back of the museum. As Eddie had still been affected by the death of his best friend Colin, Colossus assured him that he was not to blame for what happened, and that he should look to the future as he would be doing. Following the collapse of Soma viaduct, Colossus warned Zeke that the insurance company may not pay out for the repairs owing to the circumstances, though he insisted he was only trying to stay realistic.

In 1976, Colossus learned he was finally going to be overhauled and returned to service. After a bad shipment of coal led to several engines being withdrawn from service, it was decided to prioritise Colossus' restoration so he could help the railway through the crisis. He declined an offer to be repainted to speed things up and returned to steam in the winter of 1977 with no adverse reactions to the poor coal. His hard work ethic was welcomed by most of the engines on the railway to whom he proved popular, but his grubby appearance drew the ire of Clyde. Clyde would later apologise for his behaviour, which Colossus accepted. When Barry returned to the railway, he proved to be highly dismissive of Colossus, calling him senile.

In 1978 Colossus was repainted into LNWR colours, complete with his original number of 13. This caused great alarm among the engines on the line, all of whom believed that the number was jinxed. To get them off his case, Colossus made up a story about how his number was indeed cursed, but that bad luck would happen to those around him rather than to himself. This plan backfired somewhat, however, as the following day saw several engines fail whilst thinking about Colossus, and he was forced to come clean. He theorised that the engines had frightened themselves into failure and warned them to stop worrying about his number from then on.

## Persona

Colossus is an old and wise freight engine, who has experienced the nitty gritty parts of life and appreciates the ups and downs of railway operations. He has always tried his hardest to understand his colleagues and friends, but is not above looking at the bigger picture and understanding that, at the end of the day, he is a machine built by humans to serve humans.

## Livery

Colossus is currently painted in London and North Western Railway black with lining on the tender. When he first arrived on the Dark Railway, he was painted in his as-withdrawn British Railways unlined black livery with the late crest. Before nationalisation, he presumably wore LMS unlined black.

## Basis

Colossus is based on a London and North Western Railway Class G2 0-8-0, which was known as the "Super D".

## Appearances

### The Dark Railway Series

Episodes:

* Series 8 - Colossus, Time Waster (*mentioned*) and Outro (*does not speak*)
* Series 9 - Rock Shock, Time Wasted (*cameo*), Wipeout (*cameo*) and Shapeshifter (*mentioned*)
* Series 10 - 101, Body Angels, Dirty Colossus, Quack Attack, Buckin' Hell (*cameo*) and Barry the Steam Engine
* Series 11 - Relations, Since Then, Quatro (*does not speak*), Puppets (*does not speak*), Sundowner (*cameo*) and Chord Memory
* Series 12 - Ventura, 1202 (*mentioned*), What To Do and Shuffle (*cameo*)

## Trivia

* Colossus is named after the Thomas Bangalter song of the same name.
* Colossus was the first individual locomotive purchased by Zeke Dark.
* In the universe *The Dark Railway Series* is set in, Colossus has been confirmed to be the only surviving member of his class. In real life, the first member of the Super D class, No. 49395, has been preserved as part of the National Collection.