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Zeke Otthaniel Dark is the son of Mr. Dark and the current manager of the Dark Railway.
Bio
Zeke was born to Alicia Dark and Otthaniel Dark on the 15th October 1952. Whilst his father was busy working, Zeke spent alot of time with his mother, who home schooled him at Axley Manor throughout his pre-teen years. Young Zeke, like his father before him, eventually grew bored of being at home, and, keen to see more of the surrounding area, ventured up to Soma to meet the legendary "Family Friends", Theo and Otto.
Having befriended the tank engines, he found that they could teach him alot more than his mother could, and thus, reluctantly and confusingly, Alicia allowed the twins to "teach" Zeke about the world. Upon hearing about this, Otthaniel decided that Zeke should learn more about the railway in general, but Alicia suggested that their son should have a different upbringing and, reluctantly, Otthaniel sent Zeke to an expensive boarding school at the age of 10.
Though Zeke was initially saddened by this, he made great progress in school, excelling in all of his subjects, but missed home greatly. Having such an intellect, and keen to impress his mother and father, Zeke threw himself into his studies, and actually managed to finish all of his schooling much earlier than anticipated, gaining several useful qualifications at the tender age of 16.
Instead of returning home, Zeke, interested in mechanics and engineering, sought out his godfather, none other than Caracus Smash. Upon talking, Mr. Smash agreed to take on Zeke as an apprentice, slightly annoying his mother, who had wanted Zeke to become something other than a railwayman! However, she understood that railways and mechanics ran deep in his blood, so she did not object. Eventually, Caracus offered Zeke a full time job, which he accepted with his father's blessing.
By 1970, Zeke was still working with Mr. Smash at Caracus Smash Ltd. He also took to assisting the Dark Railway Preservation Society. In late 1971, Zeke began talking with Theo and one of the line's other engines, Dave, in the Galen Junction Railway Museum, and agreed to help them see their missed ones again. However, he was reluctant to let anyone else know who he was, so he asked the pair to not reveal his identity to any other engine. He later got involved in a wild chase after stealing one of Mr. Chairman's custard creams. In 1972, Zeke purchased Colossus from a scrapyard and had him displayed in the museum until he could get around to restoring him. He arranged to have him displayed alongside Eddie in order to finally give the latter some company.
In 1973, Otthaniel Dark announced his intentions to retire from managing the Dark Railway. In the same announcement, he appointed Zeke as his successor, and Zeke promised his father that he would not let him down. Upon his taking over, he began sending various engines out on loan to other railways both to help improve the line's reputation and to help other railways get themselves started up. Zeke was faced with two major problems in his first year of leadership, however. First came the collapse of the viaduct to Soma, costing the line its main source of freight revenue. This was followed by the closure and removal of the branchline to Horton, severing the railway from its connection to the mainline. Zeke was not informed about this decision ahead of time, and he vowed to fight British Rail on the grounds of the move being illegal. His efforts sadly failed to merit results until his father returned from a long cruise and revealed that a legally binding contract with the Government had been breached by British Rail's actions. This contract required the DR to maintain a connection with the national network at all times, and after a visit to London, British Rail were forced to offer Zeke the trackbed of the old route to Barbourne as an alternative connection to avoid being sued. Not long afterwards, an intervention from Theo and Otto saw Soma's viaduct repaired months ahead of schedule, along with a plan to turn the now closed quarry into a mining museum to boost tourism to the area. After Clyde gained the power to shapeshift between forms, Zeke was initially optimistic about what it could do for the railway, but after a series of complaints and an accident while on the move, he was forced to stop Clyde from working until his powers could be brought under control. After forgetting about an upcoming coal miner strike, Zeke was left with little choice but to import some coal from abroad. He would later come to regret this decision after a series of problems and failures led to Hannah and De la Trip being withdrawn from service, resulting in a locomotive crisis.
Persona
Zeke is young and impressionable, but is well liked by his colleagues, his parents, and his godfather, Caracus Smash. He has shown to be an excellent engineer, and enjoys his job at Caracus Smash Limited, though he harbours a secret desire to learn more about the operations around the Dark Railway, which, one day, he will own.
Attire
Zeke Dark has short dark brown hair. As an apprentice as CSLtd, he wore a set of grey workshop overalls. Since becoming manager of the Dark Railway, he has worn a black variation of these overalls.
Appearances
The Dark Railway Series
Episodes:
- Series 7 - Futura (cameo), Smashing! (not named; mentioned), and The Man in Overalls
- Series 8 - One More Time (mentioned), Face to Face (cameo in credits), The Great Custard Cream Robbery, Colossus, and Outro
- Series 9 - 9 (mentioned), Rock'n Roll, Rock Shock, Time Wasted, Extend Extra, Wipeout, and Shapeshifter
- Series 10 - 101, Welcome to the Tunnel, Body Angels, Tunnel Vision, The Road to Bellgrave, Coaled Weight, Dirty Colossus, Quack Attack, Buckin' Hell, and Barry the Steam Engine
Trivia
- It has been confirmed that Zeke owns at least one engine, Colossus.