Vinnie (Thomas & Friends)

"Oh dear, Shorty. Looks like the race is over for you. (chuckles)"

- Vinnie advancing on Philip to force him into the turntable well and taunting him

Vinnie, is the main or secondary antagonist in the 2016 film, Thomas & Friends: The Great Race, despite his small role''. ''He's a streamlined North American steam engine who bullies smaller engines who get in his way by abusively pushed them around. He competed in the Great Railway Show for the Strongest Engine competition. His design is based off of the Canadian National Railway's U-4-a 6400.

Personality
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 was panicking after his accident at the Great Railway Show.

Biography
Vinnie first appears when he and the other international engines (including Ashima) accidentally came to The Island of Sodor when the ferry they were on stopped at Brendam Docks. After The Dock Manager explains their current whereabouts, they (except Ashima) immediately went back to the ferry. During that, Vinnie bumps Thomas out of the way and rudely calls him "shrimp", much to Thomas' anger. Later on in The Great Railway Show, Vinnie is taking part in The Strength Competition, alongside Henry from Sodor, Hiro from Japan, Shane from Australia and Frieda from Germany. On his way there, he got blocked by Philip, a small dieselbox. Vinnie insulted Philip and threatening him to be recycled if he doesn't watch where he's going and storm off, laughing, much to the shock of Percy and Gordon (who is streamlined for The Great Race event and renamed Shooting Star). Vinnie participated in the Strongest Engine competition and although he's ahead of the other competitors which makes him win in first place, it is unknown if it's him. Later on, Philip bumped into Vinnie again, much to his anger. He chased after Philip who reverses towards a coal hopper where Carlos is using which results in Vinnie got covered in coal. Infuriated, Vinnie chased Philip through the yard, eventually ending up in the middle of the Shunting Challenge where Thomas and Ashima are competing, derailing two of Gina's flatbeds, which were blocking his way. He bumps Philip, sending him all the way to the turntable and advances on him to force him into the well, stating to Philip that "the last race is over for him". But just as he's about to force Philip into the turntable well, Vinnie felt Thomas coupling up to him and tries to hold him back to save Philip, along with Ashima who came to help. Vinnie mocks the two tank engines for their size and attempts for a tug of war but got surprised when they managed to pull him back far enough for the signalman to switch the points and allow Philip to escape. Shocked, Vinnie pulls hard, which caused Thomas' coupling to snap, resulting to him derailing at the points which are set against him and crashed into an electricity pylon, which then fell on top of him. Vinnie is trapped under the pylon, screaming for help and rudely ask Thomas and Ashima if they're gonna help him or not, which they didn't. It is unknown what happened to Vinnie for the rest of the film but it is presumed that he remains under the pylon for the rest of The Great Railway Show and was rescued that evening before heading back to North America in disgrace.

He later appears in ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures, ''working at San Francisco Docks during The Fat Controller's search for Thomas when he travels the world with Nia, an African orange tank engine from Kenya and Ace, an Australian racing car.

It is unknown when Vinnie will appear again in the series for revenge against Thomas.

Trivia

 * Vinnie is the only international character to be an antagonist.
 * Vinnie is the first Thomas & Friends villain who is a steam engine.
 * 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, which include the United States, Canada and Mexico, although the United States' flag is the one shown. Vinnie's real-life basis is actually from Canada.