Minor International Characters

There have been many Minor International Characters that have appeared in episodes and specials taking place away from Sodor. Most of these were re-textured variants of existing character models such as Edward, Henry, Oliver, Ryan or The Mainland Diesels, in order to save time and money during production.

The White Tank Engine
The White Tank Engine appeared in the background of various International episodes. He appeared when the Fat Controller was looking for Thomas at Dar es Salaam Docks. He was seen shunting at Varkala Railway Station and pulling a train through The Italian Shunting Yard. He was also briefly seen in Guanabara Bay when Marcia and Marcio drop off their loads of eucalyptus wood.

This engine is a re-textured version of Ryan.

Basis
The White Tank Engine is based on an Great Northern Railway N2.

Livery
The White Tank Engine is painted white with gold lining and black boiler bands. Both its footplate and wheels are painted red.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 23 - Thomas Makes a Mistake and Too Loud, Thomas!
 * Series 24 - Thomas and the Forest Engines

Specials
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

The Maroon Tank Engine
The Maroon Tank Engine appeared in the background of various International episodes. He appeared in the background when Thomas and Nia first arrived in Rio de Janeiro and when Thomas went to collect the coffee for San Francisco. He is seen when the Fat Controller was looking for Thomas at Dar es Salaam Docks. The Maroon Tank Engine also appeared in India. He also reappeared in Brazil when Thomas arrived during a busy period at Guanabara Bay.

This engine is a re-textured version of Oliver.

Basis
The Maroon Tank Engine is based on a GWR 14xx Class 0-4-2T.

Livery
The Maroon Tank Engine is painted maroon with yellow lining. It's also based on a TR DL Class on the East African Railways.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky
 * Series 23 - Thomas Makes a Mistake
 * Series 24 - Thomas and the Forest Engines

Specials
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

The Purple Tank Engine
The Purple Tank Engine only appears once pulling a passenger train to Varkala Station when Thomas was first visiting India.

This engine is a re-textured version of Oliver.

Basis
The Purple Tank Engine is based on a GWR 14xx Class 0-4-2T.

Livery
The Purple Tank Engine is painted purple with yellow lining.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky

The Brazilian Steam Engine
"Olé!"

- The Brazilian Steam Engine, Big World! Big Adventures! The Brazilian Steam Engine was an engine that pulled a goods train to Rio de Janeiro. Thomas and Nia passed him on his way in Brazil.

This engine is a re-textured version of Raul with an additional moustache.

Basis
The Brazilian Steam engine is based on a series of three vertical-boiler steam locomotives built by Sentinel in 1931 for the São Paulo Railway. Raul is also based on one of these engines.

His basis is built to run on broad gauge rails, whereas the Brazilian Steam engine is standard gauge and has added buffers, unlike his real-life counterpart.

Livery The Brazilian Steam engine is painted grey with green lining. His front is blue and he has yellow and green stripes on his cab. He also has a yellow diamond in a green box on the sides of his cab.

Thomas & Friends
Specials
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

Music Videos
 * Series 22 - The Journey Never Ends

Voice Actors

 * Gabriel Porras
 * Kento Shiraishi
 * Anton Savenkov
 * Caco Penna

The Orange Chinese Engine
The Orange Chinese Engine was an engine that Thomas encountered, thinking she was Nia whilst searching for her in China.

She is a re-textured version of Edward with added feminine features to her face.

Basis
The Orange Chinese Engine is based on a heavily modified Sharp, Stewart and Co. "Larger Seagull" K2 class.

Livery
The Orange Chinese Engine is painted orange with maroon lining. She also appears to have a maroon running board and wheels with gold handrails.

Thomas & Friends
Specials
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

The Grey Tender Engine
The Grey Tender Engine first appeared just after Thomas left Nia in her yard. He later appeared in the background when at Dar es Salaam Docks as well as when The Fat Controller met Kobe. He is also seen when Thomas and Nia arrived in Rio de Janeiro and was briefly seen in India pulling a passenger train and later gave trouble for Thomas when it ran over a delivery of coconuts for the Varkala Station. He was also seen in China shunting in the sheds' shunting yard and later helping rerail a flatbed. He was later seen again in India, this time, pulling a goods train out of Varkala Station.

This engine is a re-textured version of Henry.

Basis
The Grey Tender Engine is based on a London, Midland & Scottish Railway's "Black Five".

Livery
The Grey Tender Engine is painted blue-grey with yellow and black lining, dark grey boiler bands, dark grey footplates, and yellow wheels.

Appearances
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Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky, Thomas and the Monkey Palace and The Water Wheel
 * Series 23 - Thomas Makes a Mistake

Specials Videos
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!
 * 2018 - Why is Africa Important to Nia?

Storytime }}
 * Series 1 - Thomas and the Monkey Palace

Audio Files
Whistle

The Grey Tender Engine reuses Ferdinand's whistle sound.

The Purple Tender Engine
The Purple Tender Engine appeared pulling a goods train when Shankar was bringing Thomas trucks during his visit to India.

This engine is a re-textured version of Henry.

Basis
The Purple Tender Engine is based on a London, Midland & Scottish Railway's "Black Five".

Livery
The Purple Tender Engine is painted purple with pale pink lining. It has a brown top feed, a grey running board and steam pipes and two separate tan rectangles on its tender. Its wheels are painted red, while its cylinder outlets are orange. The cylinders themselves are painted dark grey with yellow lining.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky

The Brown Tender Engine(s)
The Brown Tender Engine was seen in the background of various International locations. He was first seen in Mauritania when the engine shunted some trucks behind Thomas for him to take to Dar Es Salaam. He was later seen in India, pulling trucks through Varkala Railway Station. He was seen pulling trucks in Brazil just before Thomas met Gustavo.

This engine is a re-textured version of Edward.

Basis
The Brown Tender Engine is based on a heavily modified Sharp, Stewart and Co. "Larger Seagull" K2 class.

Livery
The Brown Tender Engine is painted light brown with blue wheels.

Thomas & Friends
Specials
 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky
 * Series 23 - The Other Big Engine and Thomas Makes a Mistake
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

Orange and Blue Diesels
The Orange and Blue Diesels are engines that appear in Rio de Janeiro and India. One of them appeared in the background shunting trucks when Thomas and Nia arrived at the docks, and another was later seen in the shunting yards in India. The other one was also seen pulling a goods train through The Indian Paddy Field.

They were a re-textured versions of the Mainland Diesels.

Basis
The Orange and Blue Diesels are based on the BR Class 08. Diesel, 'Arry and Bert, Splatter and Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Diesel Shunter are also based off of this engine.

Livery
The Diesels are painted orange and blue with yellow lining and silver bars and steps. Their front also has black and yellow hazard stripes, with a red headlamp and wheels. It is based upon the livery the WDM-3A diesels based at Gooty depot in India wore.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky and Tiger Trouble
 * Series 23 - Crowning Around

Specials
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

The Lime Diesel Shunter
The Lime Diesel Shunter appeared in the foreground when Thomas and Yong Bao were talking about the Chinese New Year. It interrupted Yong Bao with its horn and engine, making it difficult for Thomas to understand what Yong Bao is saying.

This engine was a re-textured version of one of the mainland diesels.

Basis
The Diesel Shunter is based on the BR Class 08. Diesel, 'Arry and Bert, Splatter and Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Diesel Shunter are also based off of this engine.

Livery
The Diesel Shunter is painted lime with dark green lining and hazard stripes.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Thomas and the Dragon

Chinese Breakdown Cranes
The Chinese Breakdown Cranes are a pair of cranes that helped put Nia back on the rails after she had derailed when she was in China. During Thomas' later visit to China, the male crane had a close encounter with a runaway waterwheel built from bamboo; he inadvertently caught the wheel and threw it across the countryside.

They were modifications of Judy and Jerome, with newly modelled faces, different liveries and their nameplates removed.

Basis
The Chinese Breakdown Cranes are based on a Cowans Sheldon 30 ton breakdown crane. Judy and Jerome are also based off of this crane, which are the cranes on the Breakdown Train.

Livery
The cranes are painted green with yellow hazard stripes.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - The Water Wheel and Runaway Truck

Specials
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

Voice Actors

 * Windson Liong
 * Ryōsuke Morita
 * Daniel Abundis
 * Daniil Eldarov

Indian Breakdown Cranes
The Indian Breakdown Cranes are a pair of cranes that Rajiv collected to rescue Thomas. One of them was later seen working above a tunnel and accidentally knocked Rajiv's crown off while carrying a steel beam, causing him to lose it when some monkeys started playing with it and it was thrown into the truck of another train down below.

They were modifications of Judy and Jerome, the male crane reused Merrick's faces. They both had different liveries, and their nameplates removed.

Basis
The Indian Breakdown Cranes are based on a Cowans Sheldon 30 ton breakdown crane. Judy and Jerome are also based off of this crane, which are the cranes on the Breakdown Train.

Livery
The cranes are painted bright yellow, with red and white hazard stripes painted on the bottoms of their cabin frames. Their chassis and flatbed trucks are painted dark green-grey.

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Trusty Trunky
 * Series 23 - Crowning Around

Videos
 * 2018 - Meet Ashima of India!

The African Coaches
When Percy was transporting Queen Zuri to the Wildlife Sanctuary in Kenya, he came across two African Coaches arguing. They stopped arguing when they found out who Percy was transporting and Percy later pushed them back to their shed.

Calm App

 * 2020 - Percy and the Lioness

Trivia

 * The Minor International Characters have never appeared on Sodor or Australia.
 * Their faces are often obscured or are facing away from the camera.
 * Those that do face the camera often have disguises such as the Brazilian Steam Engine's moustache or The Orange Tender Engine's feminine features.
 * The Grey Tender Engine is the most reused Minor International Character. He was seen in six different countries.
 * Those countries being Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil, India and China.
 * The one in India has the same whistle sound as Ferdinand.
 * The All Engines Go episode Nia's Perfect Plan featured another purple Henry reskin.
 * Some re-textured characters have been given names and larger roles such as Kobe, Cassia, Natalie, Carter, Shankar, Fernando, Marcia and Marcio.
 * The Chinese Breakdown Cranes' face are modified from the Troublesome Trucks.
 * The colours of the crane is similar to the Breakdown Train. Except the breakdown train is painted dark green-grey while the Chinese crane is painted light green. And they both have yellow hazard stripes.
 * One of the Indian Breakdown Cranes has a modified version of Merrick's face.
 * The Chinese Breakdown Cranes are the only minor international characters to speak.

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