Vinnie

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

- Vinnie bumping into Thomas, The Great Race

Vinnie is an American tender engine who competed in the Great Railway Show. He was a competitor in the Strongest Engine competition.

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. 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 to America.

Persona
Vinnie is very rude and 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.

He is also shown to be reckless, as seen by bashing through a pile of rocks, and Gina's flatbeds.

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 J-3a 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 navy blue with a grey boiler and yellow linings along with red trimming around his cab windows. He carries his number and name on plates on his smokebox and the sides of his footplate.

Appearances
Television Series=

Specials
He may appear in the twenty-second season and Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie.
 * 2016 - The Great Race

Learning Segments

 * Guess Who? Puzzles (does not speak)

Videos
Other Media=
 * 2016 - Meet the Contenders: Vinnie of North America (does not speak)
 * 2017 - Great Race Friends Near and Far: Gina the Smart Steam Engine and Great Race Friends Near and Far: Vinnie is Back in America

Books

 * 2016 - 6-Movie Coloring Collection (cameo), Off to the Races! (cameo), The Great Railway Show (cameo), The Great Race (cameo), The Great Race: Sticker Activity Book and The Great Race: The Movie Storybook (cameo)
 * 2017 - Thomas and the Trains of the World

Voice Actors

 * John Schwab (UK/US)
 * Nobuaki Kanemitsu (Japan)
 * Daniel del Roble (Latin America)
 * Daniel Welbat (Germany)
 * Alfredo Martínez (Spain)

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 is from North America. This is quite vague as North America is actually a continent that represents three countries, them being the United States, Canada and Mexico, although the United States' flag is the one shown.
 * In the Golden Book adaption of the special, Vinnie participated in the Great Race event, rather than the strongest engine competition. His Wooden Railway model is named Racing Vinnie, which hints he was to take part in the race in an earlier draft of the script.
 * 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, his merchandising toys (except his Capsule Plarail toy) do not have them.
 * Vinnie's Take-n-Play toy has a few errors:
 * His nameplate and number are missing.
 * His wheels are black instead of blue.

Quotes

 * "YEAH?! Well, you better watch where you're goin', Shortie, or you might end up being recycled!"

- Vinnie to Philip after nearly bumping into him


 * "Oh dear, Shortie! Looks like the race is over for you! Ha, ha, ha!"

- Vinnie to Philip when he has him cornered

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * Take-n-Play
 * Capsule Plarail