Yong Bao

Yong Bao (Mandarin: 勇寶 or 勇宝) is a Chinese engine who took part in The Great Railway Show, competing in the Best Decorated Engine parade.

## Personality

Yong Bao is a kind and faithful tender engine from China, who pulls passenger coaches. He may not be the biggest tender engine or the strongest, but he once cleverly diverted an accident saving hundreds of passengers. Yong Bao was decorated for his bravery and painted bright red, which is a colour that symbolises celebration and happiness. Painted on his tender is a tiger which incites a sense of awe and admiration. Like Yong Bao, the tiger is full of life and embodies the spirit of being driven to achieve and make progress. These qualities make Yong Bao a Really Useful Engine.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Yong Bao is based on a Chinese Railways RM class 4-6-2 Pacific, which were built by CSR Sifang Co Ltd between 1958 and 1966. Used in passenger service, these engines were eventually taken out of service by more powerful steam and diesel locomotives on the Chinese rail system. Three members of this class have been preserved; 1001 is on display at the China Railway Museum in Beijing, 1163 is preserved in Aioi, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and 1247 is on display at the Shenyang Railway Museum.

Yong Bao’s basis
### Livery

Yong Bao was originally painted navy blue but after saving the passengers on a derailed train, he was then later repainted in Chinese red with yellow lining and his running board is painted green. His name is written on the sides of his cab in Simplified Chinese, and the design of a tiger is painted on his tender. He also bears a dragon face on the front top of his funnel.

## Appearances

### Thomas and Friends

* **Season 22** - Number One Engine, Thomas in the Wild, The Water Wheel, Runaway Truck and Thomas and the Dragon
* **Series 23** - Grudge Match (stock footage cameo) and Wish You Were Here

He will appear in the twenty-fourth series.

### Specials

* **2016** - The Great Race (cameo)
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures!

### Thomas & Friends Webseries

* **Series 2** - Lost and Hound (Part 1) (partial cameo), Lost and Hound (Part 2), Lost and Hound (Part 4), Swing Vote (Part 1) (cameo), Swing Vote (Part 2) (cameo), Swing Vote (Part 3), Swing Vote (Part 4), The Sodor Games (Part 1) (cameo), The Sodor Games (Part 4) (cameo), Power Hungry (Part 2), Power Hungry (Part 4) (cameo), Silly Season (Part 2), Thomas World Fair (Part 4) (cameo), Look Within (cameo) and Go Thomas! (cameo)

## Voice Actors

* Dan Li (UK/US; Big World! Big Adventures! onwards)
* Hiroo Sasaki (Japan)
* Grzegorz Kwiecień (Poland)
* Dan Schatzberg (Israel)
* Jörn Linnenbröker (Germany)
* Manuel David (Latin America)
* Anton Savenkov (Russia)

## Trivia

* Yong Bao's name means 'Embrace' in Mandarin. His colour red symbolises celebration and happiness while the tiger painted on his tender stands for awe and strength.
* Yong Bao has been partially modified to work on British rail, he has been given buffers like Hiro.
* Yong Bao has Traditional Chinese characters on his cab, though in China, Simplified Chinese characters are used standardly. Because of this, Yong Bao's name was changed from Traditional to Simplified characters permanently and his merchandise uses it.
* In a behind the scenes photo, Yong Bao was originally going to have flags that open out instead of the dragon face.
* In real life, Yong Bao would be too large for the British loading gauge.
* Yong Bao's tender wheels are actually reused from Marion's wheels, and his bell is reused from Belle's bell.
* Like Hiro and Carlos, Yong Bao has a knuckle coupler on his front and a chain and hook coupler on the back of his tender.