Thomas & Friends: The Great Race (2016) Plot Summary Explained

Thomas the Tank Engine meets Gordon the Big Engine's brother, the Flying Scotsman, who is to compete in a race at the Great Railway Show, a series of rail competitions on the mainland; he encourages Thomas to try entering as well. Although every engine on the Island of Sodor wants to take part, Thomas fears he will not be chosen. Thomas tries several attempts to convince Sir Topham to choose him, such as becoming a streamliner to enter the race. When he vaguely phrases this idea to Sir Topham Hatt, the latter instead chooses Gordon to be streamlined. Thomas then proposes being repainted to enter the contest for "best decorated engine", but Sir Topham Hatt instead uses his idea for James and Emily.

At Brendam Docks, Thomas has a run-in with most of the competitors for the Great Railway Show when their rail ferry docks there by mistake, and as a result, one of them is left behind. Ashima—a decorated tank engine from India—accidentally bumps Thomas in her hurry to the ferry, nearly pushing him over the edge into the water. Smitten after she rescues him, Thomas quickly leaves the docks. Ashima is lost and the other engines are too busy to help her, and Thomas becomes jealous when he sees her performing his passenger train duties that he abandoned.

Meanwhile, Diesel devises a trick that involves disguising Paxton, Den, and Dart as trucks to fool Sir Topham into entering him into the shunting competition instead of Henry. Ashima tells Thomas he does not need to change himself and suggests he should partake in the shunting competition. Thomas tries moving Diesel's train to practise shunting, resulting in a crash. Sir Topham reveals he was planning to enter Thomas into the shunting challenge the whole time, but because of his needed repairs, Percy the Small Engine shall take his place. Once they leave, Thomas hurries to the competition after discovering that Gordon has not had his safety valve installed. At the Dieselworks, Diesel berates Paxton, Den, and Dart for the failed trick, then accidentally gets himself stuck in a crate.

The Great Railway Show is a disaster for Sodor's representatives; Henry, James, and Emily lose their respective competitions, and Gordon is eliminated from the race when his boiler explodes. With Percy's insistence, Thomas retakes his place in the shunting competition but sacrifices his win to Ashima to save her from crashing into a derailed flatbed. However, the judges decide to award Thomas and Ashima a tie for good sportsmanship.

With the Railway Show over, Thomas invites Ashima to come back to Sodor with him, allowing them to spend some more time together before catching her ship back to India from there. Diesel, still trapped inside the crate, is mistakenly loaded onto a ship heading away from Sodor. The diesels and Cranky the Crane watch him depart from the docks.