The Great Railway Show

The Great Railway Show is an international competition involving engines from all over the world, who compete in events for speed, strength and skill. During the events of The Great Race, the show was held in England.

It is not to be confused with the similarly-named event from Thomas and the Great Railway Show.

The Strongest Engine Race
This competition was held in the south-western yard of the venue, at 12:30 PM. The competition involves five steam locomotives, who are coupled to large flatbeds of bricks and must pull them over an inclined track. During the very first Railway Show, Carlos was the winner of this competition.

The contestants for this competition include Henry, Hiro, Frieda, Shane and Vinnie. The winner of this event was left unknown.

The Best Decorated Engine Parade
This competition was held in the main yard of the railway show venue, at 1 PM. Contrary to the other events in the Railway Show, this event was more of a parade than a race, and is the only event of its kind in the show. Engines are decorated or painted in or decorated with vibrant and elegant designs, and pass through the main yard with a brass band while the judges determine who the best decorated engine is.

The contestants for this competition include James, Emily, Rajiv, Carlos and Yong Bao. Rajiv was the winner of this event.

The Great Race
This race was held outside of the main railway show venue, and took place at 1:30 PM. Five engines race against each-other to determine who can reach the finish line first. During this event, Gordon's boiler burst when his safety valve was not fitted.

The contestants for this competition include Gordon, Flying Scotsman, Spencer, Axel and Étienne, the latter being the winner of the race.

The Shunting Competition
This competition is another racing-like event, and takes place in the main yard at 2 PM. Five shunting engines are lined up and must race to see who can shunt a train of trucks first, arranging different types of rolling stock such as box vans, tankers, conflats and a brakevan.

The contestants for this competition include Thomas, Ashima, Gina, Ivan and Raul. Percy was originally chosen for the shunting challenge, but dropped out to allow Thomas to compete. Although Thomas ended up losing the event when he gave up his chance of winning, both he and Ashima were declared the winners of the event.

Contestants

 * Thomas (Sodor)
 * Henry (Sodor)
 * Gordon (Sodor)
 * James (Sodor)
 * Percy (Sodor; drops out)
 * Emily (Sodor)
 * Spencer (England)
 * Flying Scotsman (England)
 * Hiro (Japan)
 * Ashima (India)
 * Rajiv (India)
 * Yong Bao (China)
 * Vinnie (North America)
 * Carlos (Mexico)
 * Raul (Brazil)
 * Shane (Australia)
 * Frieda (Germany)
 * Axel (Belgium)
 * Gina (Italy)
 * Étienne (France)
 * Ivan (Russia)

Other Engines
These engines did not participate in any of the events, and only served as either shunting engines arranging trains in the yard, taking visitors around the yard or representing their team's country.


 * Stephen
 * Philip
 * The Five Diesel Shunters

Trivia

 * The Great Railway Show is based off of the Olympic Games, where thousands of contenders from around the world also participate in several competitions. The Great Race will also be released in the same year as the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
 * Ivan and Étienne are the only diesel and electric engines to participate in the Great Railway Show respectively.
 * Henry and Percy are the only Sudrian contender who did not have their appearance modified prior to joining their respective competitions.
 * Sodor has the most representatives out of any country, with a total of five (excluding Percy, Stephen and Philip).