Vinnie

"Get out of the way! Why don't you look where you're going, Shrimp?!"

- Vinnie bumping into Thomas, The Great Race

   Vinnie   Vinnie is a North American engine who competed in the Great Railway Show. He was a competitor in the Strongest Engine competition.
 * Number: 6407
 * Class: U-4-a
 * Builder: Montreal Locomotive Works
 * Built: 1936
 * Configuration: 4-8-4

Bio
Vinnie, along with the other international engines, accidentally came to Sodor when the ferry they were on stopped at Brendam. He and the other engines, except Ashima, promptly got back on the ferry, but not before he had the chance to bump Thomas out of his way.

At the Great Railway Show, Vinnie participated in the Strongest Engine competition. It is most likely he won since he was in the lead the entire time, but it is not confirmed. On his way to the track where his competition was to take place, Philip blocked his way. Vinnie insulted Philip and told him to watch where he was going. Later, Philip got in Vinnie's way again. Vinnie, annoyed at Philip, chased him briefly before being covered in coal from a hopper that Carlos was using. Infuriated, Vinnie chased Philip through the yard, eventually ending up in the middle of the Shunting Challenge. Vinnie derailed two of Gina's flatbeds, which were blocking his way, before cornering Philip near a turntable and trying to force the little shunter into the turntable well. Thomas and Ashima then managed to couple up to the big tender engine and pull him away, allowing Philip to escape. Vinnie resisted, which caused Thomas' coupling to snap. This launched Vinnie into a set of points that were set against him, derailing him and sending him crashing into an electricity pylon, which then fell on top of him. Vinnie was left trapped under the pylon, screaming for help. He remained there for the rest of the day and was rescued that evening, after which he returned home.

Persona
Vinnie is very competitive with a reputation for being a bully and will do anything to win a competition, including cheating. He views smaller engines such as Thomas and Philip as inferior to him, often calling them derogatory names such as "Shrimp" (Thomas) and "Shortie" (Philip), and often takes pleasure in bumping them around. Because of his vile behaviour, hardly any of the engines get along with him.

Despite his intimidating size and demeanour, Vinnie has proven himself to be a coward in the face of greater adversity, as shown when he panicked after his accident at the Great Railway Show.

Basis
Vinnie is based off of the Canadian National Railway's U-4-a 6400 class. His number is taken from the Grand Trunk Western #6407 of the U-4-b class, which was scrapped in 1959. The U-4-a's were primarily used on passenger services in southern Ontario and Quebec due to a lack of coal reserves on the railway. One member of this class, 6400, helped haul George VI and Queen Elizabeth during their royal tour of Canada in 1939. It later appeared at the New York World's Fair that year, where it was filmed posing with a New York Central J3a Dreyfuss Hudson (Connor's basis). Today, this engine has been preserved and is on display at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.

Livery
Vinnie is painted grey and dark blue with yellow lining and red trimming around his cab windows. He carries his number and name on plates on his smokebox and the sides of his footplate.

Television Series
Specials:
 * The Great Race (named by his nameplate)

Vinnie was also featured in a Meet the Contenders segment, and appeared in the Thomas Creator Collective web-series.

Voice Actors

 * John Schwab (UK/US)

Trivia

 * Vinnie is the first engine in the series to have a Vanderbilt tender.
 * Vinnie is only partially modified to work on British railways; his tender is given buffers, yet he still retains his knuckle coupler (which has a small pin so that Vinnie could couple up to British rolling stock).
 * In Vinnie's promotional video for the Great Railway Show, the announcer states he's from North America. This is quite vague as North America includes the United States, Canada and Mexico, although the former's flag is the one shown.
 * In real life, Vinnie would be too large for the British loading gauge.
 * The real engine that carried Vinnie's number was scrapped in 1959, despite the fact that engines built after 1959 are present in the movie.
 * Even though Vinnie has guard rails over his face in the movie, his merchandising models don't have them.
 * Vinnie's Take-n-Play model has a few errors.
 * His nameplate is missing.
 * His number is missing.
 * Vinnie's whistle is Skarloey's at a higher pitch.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * Take-n-Play