Crystal

**Crystal** is a little tank engine who works at the international transit terminal.

## Biography

Crystal originally worked at a diamond mine, where she worked proudly (though she was unnamed and completely lacked a livery). However, the liquified remains of a rainbow crystal sprouted many more colorful crystals on her body, given her a new livery and her name, and a big change to her life. Crystal’s beautiful appearance had her put into the sheds to preserve her appearance, but it made her feel really useless. She started to regret gaining such a eye-catching appearance, as she was left in her shed for many years, waiting for a chance to be really useful. She was rediscovered by a sodor exploration team consisting of Thomas, Edward, Ashima, and Danielle. Having been stuck in her shed for 100 years, Crystal was amazed at how things had changed, and she surprised the current engines with her crystalized body. Since she hadn’t been working for a while, Crystal was incredibly eager to learn the roots of the economy and so that she could help in many other jobs. The Leonolds often use her as a source of rainbow crystals, breaking a piece off if they need one. Following her lessons with the more experienced engines, Crystal was relocated to the international transit terminal, where she works to this day. She mainly hangs out with The Glow Town Dockside Engines.

## Personality

Crystal was a really hard worker who’d prefer nothing more than a good run on a long distance. While she didn’t mind her new diamond shell, she later showed a extremely large dislike to it, as it’s eye-catching appearance had the mining crew leave her in her shed to preserve her beauty, something that she found extremely infuriating. Because of her lock-up, Crystal was all too glad to do the first job she was given, even her if it did get her dirty. After she got to sodor, she was all too eager to learn from those with more experience. Even after she was back to being really useful, she still retains her excitable nature. Like Liza and Rosie, she can be a little girly. She also retains the tank engine habit of teasing the bigger engines. Unlike the dockside engines, who enjoy the smell of fish, Crystal finds it unsettling, and often tries to restrain from gagging when near it.

## Appearance

Crystal is based on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway X class. She is based off of the oil-burning version of the engine. These engines are built to run on metre gauge rails, whereas Crystal is standard gauge.

The diamonds on Crystal's body are in Ashima's colors, plus the colors of the rainbow and some other bright colors. The crystals also form various patterns, inspired by Indian textiles and Henna Tattoos. In addition, the flower petal designs on her front cylinder block was based on her basis X-37385's.

A second prototype variation of Crystal
## Behind the scenes

Crystal uses clips of Tabitha St. Germain as Panchi from Kong: King of the Apes.

## Notes

* Crystal was Inspired by Jewel, a character from Zerby Derby.
* Crystal was made from Ashima's Hyper Glow TrackMaster model, but with a coat of glitter on her body, tying with her namesake. During her debut, the model was unmodified, had a different chassis, and was covered in clay to simulate rust and grime.
	+ She is also the first new character to reuse a base model of a international engine.
* Crystal's whistle is Emily's from the last 4 seasons of the model era (and Edward's from season 4-5).
* Crystal's model was received on Boxing day 2020 alongside Mason as a delayed Christmas gift. Currently, it is in stock condition, though unlike the others, Crystal came loose with extra track not included with her original packaging.