Gina

Gina is an Italian tank engine who once participated in the Shunting Challenge at the Great Railway Show.

Biography

Thomas & Friends

Gina, along with the other international engines, accidentally arrived on Sodor when the ferry they were travelling on stopped at Sodor instead of the Mainland. After the engines realised their mistake, Gina ordered the engines back onto the ship. She was also the first to notice that one of the international engines, Ashima, was missing from the ship.

Gina competed in the Shunting Challenge alongside Ivan, Raul, Thomas and Ashima. During the competition, her flatbeds were derailed by Vinnie when he was chasing Philip throughout the yard.

After the Great Railway Show ended, Gina left the Mainland and returned to Italy.

During Thomas' adventures in Italy, she served as his guide, but his constant misinterpretations proved to be a constant annoyance. She once found him charging out of an abandoned mine, and ended up derailed and broken. The two managed to escape being buried, and she told Thomas that the voice in the mines were his own echoes. After a meeting with Ester, she joined Thomas in collecting the Sodor Construction Company, who were called in by Ester. Thomas soon became jealous when Jack found a mosaic on his first day, but everyone became impressed with him when he found Lorenzo the lost engine and his coach, Beppe. Gina was dismayed when it seemed that Thomas was returning to Sodor after this escapade, but it turns out he was just ready for more peace and quiet, though he was curious on Lorenzo and Beppe's wherabouts.

Gina was chosen to take Dame Bella Canto to a concert at The Colosseum, but she was tricked into taking Beppe by Lorenzo, who took Dame Bella in a larger coach while she and Beppe took her orchestra. Lorenzo soon got lost, but Gina and Beppe found him after delivering the orchestra in time for the concert.

When Thomas lost his voice in attempts to practice opera, Gina would have missed Stefano if the little blue tank engine had not found a different way.

Personality

Sweet and stylish, Gina can match the boys pound for pound when it comes to shunting trucks in the yard. She is very proud of her Italian heritage, and loves working on archaeological digs to uncover more about the history of her cherished homeland. Gina does not suffer fools gladly, and will often grow irritable when someone acts like they know it all - particularly about her areas of expertise. She also doesn't like it when someone implies that she "huffs and puffs". Nonetheless, she is loyal and caring, and will always set grudges aside for the sake of helping others. She also shows that despite Thomas' antics and mishaps, she truly enjoys his visits to Italy. Due to working on archaeological jobs, Gina has devoloped a sense of annoyance towards superstitious beliefs, and often rolls her eyes over topics such as luck as she prefers to follow commonsense ways of doing things.

Technical Details

Basis

Gina is based on the Ferrovie Nord Milano 200 0-4-0T. These engines were ordered by the Società Ferrovie Del Ticino (SFT) and built by Couillet, a Belgian locomotive manufacturer, for use on the Como-Varese-Laveno and Saronno-Malnate routes. Seven engines were built by Couillet and numbered from 200 to 206. In 1888, the two routes were acquired by the Ferrovie Nord Milano and the engines became part of the railway, being re-numbered 201 to 207 (subsequently re-numbered again as 200-01 to 200-07). They were used for local service and slowly relegated to menial tasks with the arrival of more powerful engines and from the 1920s, electrification. In the mid-1930s, they were used only for shunting, especially at Milano Cadorna station and were finally withdrawn in the 1960s. In 1974, engine 200-05 was restored and used on heritage train services and is now the second oldest operating engine in Europe. Another engine, numbered 200-02 has been placed on a plinth at Saronno, but it is actually 200-04.

According to the behind the scenes video of The Great Race, Gina was originally going to be an FS electric locomotive.

Gina's basis

Proposed basis

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Livery

Gina's livery is that of her basis. She is painted green with a black boiler, gold lining and red wheels. She has her name written in white lettering on her nameplates.

Appearances

Trivia

• Gina's Adventures toy has a nameplate only on the left side.
• Gina is the only Italian character to appear in all of the twenty-third series episodes set in Italy.
• Her name means "queen" in Italian.
• According to Engines Around the World, Gina is from Milan, Italy.

Quotes

Merchandise

• Wooden Railway (Race Day Relay Set exclusive; discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (cancelled)
• Adventures (sold only in Diamond Run 4-Pack, and Around The World Friends 10-Pack; discontinued)
• Collectible Railway
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Motor Road and Rail
• Capsule Plarail
• Motorized

Videos

Gina of Italy

Meet the Characters - Gina! (UK)

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