The Great Race: Which International Engines Have the Most Potential?

I suppose it's fair to say that there's been a lot of hype over the next Thomas and Friends special, The Great Race... and not to mention a bunch of controversy, but that's a topic for another day. The twelve new international engines are a big talking point for this special, so how can I not follow suit for them? I want to talk about how much potential they'd have for the North Western Railway if they weren't meant to be one-offs. Let's get started, shall we?

Warning: This blog post may contain spoilers; reader discretion is advised.

Before I begin, here's a few things you should know:

1. I will not be discussing the Flying Scotsman; since he's an engine from the mainland, I'm fairly certain it'll stay that way.
2. Yes, I'll be taking the actual gauges of their prototypes into question. This will be a factor on the positioning of the international engines.
3. I'll be ranking them from least likely to most likely.
4. None of my views are intended to be xenophobic in any way. I am a Caucasian American, and I do apologize beforehand if you are offended.

Rajiv's basis, The Fairy Queen, is quite massive (1676 millimeters) to say the least, even for a tank engine. Plus, it's the oldest operating steam engine in the world (yeah, more so than Talyllyn) at 161 years old (at the time of writing).

Even if you disregard the fact Rajiv, in real life, would be massive as far as width is concerned, would he have much of a purpose if he was an NWR engine? Honestly, no. In real life, he wouldn't be very good at shunting or pulling trains, and even if he was a saloon engine like Aerolite (Whiff's basis), he'd still be too darn slow. The best chance he'd have would be either at Ulfstead Castle, or if Sir Robert didn't have the space, the Sodor museum. Rather sad, really.

And here's another engine who suffers from gigantism.

This isn't intended to be offensive to the Australians; I've great respect for them, but Shane would be far too large for the mainline. I know he was seen with Flying Scotsman (at least, his real life basis), but the two engines are of different gauges - 4472 is standard gauge and 520 is Irish gauge (1600 mm). I don't really feel there'd be much use for Shane.

Vinnie's been talked about... and hated by a fair number of people. I'll be honest; I was looking forward to seeing him, partially due to cultural bias. He was said to be a jerkish kind of character, and I bet it would've made him interesting - I'll see for myself.

Much like Shane, I don't really see Vinnie working for the NWR. Unlike Shane, however, Vinnie is probably best suited for the mainland, probably as a mixed-traffic engine. Hey, if they could feature a pair of Irish-American streamlined passenger engines, why not a streamlined mixed-traffic engine?

The eastern end of Sodor is being expanded upon, and if they're gonna to do so, why not feature a couple of shunting engines to work there?

Anyway, I'm featuring both Raul and Ivan together as they share similar positives and negatives. One of the negatives is that they're built to a larger gauge than standard - Raul especially. However, with Ivan, he's slightly closer to being a standard gauge - you'd probably have to make him a bit thinner to accommodate the British loading gauge.

Given the choice, I think I'd prefer Ivan a tad more, mostly cause he isn't a Class 08 recolor. (Why are there five red-and-yellow 08s anyway?! Enough is enough!)

Yong Bao's a bit of a toughie, really. He doesn't exactly have he largest role in the story - he doesn't speak at all - and I feel it was a bit of lost opportunity for Yong Bao to have some interaction with Hiro. From what I hear (I could be wrong, though, and I do apologize if it sounds offensive), China and Japan might not be the best of friends as far as politics are concerned, and I think that could lead to some interesting interactions between them.

As far as purpose is concerned, he could be another mixed-traffic engine for the mainland.

Ashima is perhaps the most talked about of the international engines, and I've heard the most positive things said about her. Is she in my Top 10 favorites? We'll see when I've seen the special for myself.

Ashima's basis works as a mountain engine for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, much like the Culdee Fell engines. However, whilst the Culdee Fell engines are 800 mm gauge, Ashima is meter gauge - so it looks though she'd have to downscaled just to work there.

For an NWR engine? I don't know how she could work there, but I feel she might be more suited for the Culdee Fell Railway - I mean, don't they need a female engine there?

Carlos is gonna be the last of the engines I'll consider for the mainland. Much like Yong Bao and Vinnie, he could be a mixed-traffic engine, and I bet he would do brilliantly for coal trains. I mean, isn't that what 2-8-0 tender engines were built to do? Not much else I can say about him, really.

Ooh, now we're getting to the ones I feel have the best chance!

What ranks Frieda this high is not because of cultural bias (even though I'm actually Dutch and not German, but I digress), but because I think she could do great as an express engine for the NWR. Plus, how cool would it be to have an important train being pulled by a female steam engine?

As she was mistaken by Thomas for Gordon, I think the two big blue engines could have a very interesting dynamic. In addition, as Frieda's siblings were known as Black Swans, why not give her the nickname Blue Swan?

If you've read my post about the Culdee Fell engines being part of the show, then you'll know why Etienne's in the top three - he'd be an excellent contender for the Peel Godred branchline.

Apart from Ashima (who, sadly, didn't make the top two), the Flying Scotsman, and Vinnie, two other international engines did catch my attention - Axel and Gina (we'll get to her later).

If you've seen the Thomas Creator Collective mini-series The Fast and the Fizzleboxes (one day, I might share my thoughts on their videos), Axel was a major player and rival to James. Actually, much like Gordon and Frieda, James and Axel could play off one another fantastically - James with his egotistical pride and Axel's ladies' man type persona - just imagine how it'd play off!

Oh, and for his purpose on the NWR? Perhaps Axel is a utility engine, but unlike James, he'd prefer taking goods instead.

Gina reaches the top spot! What puts her there were these reasons:

1. Her basis was built for shunting, and I feel she could be a good station pilot for Knapford. Speaking of which, that brings me onto my next point:
2. Gina's basis was built in 1883, and because of that, it would make her a sort of motherly-type figure to the younger shunters like Philip and Charlie.
3. Expanding on her persona, I can see her as the type that, while she is small, Gina refuses to let her size bother her and can stand up to bigger engines like Spencer, probably giving them a dirty look if they get too big for their buffers. Would that be funny or what?