Thomas and the Great Railway Show is the 35th book of The Railway Series that was published in August 12th, 1991. This book focuses on Thomas being chosen to visit the Great Railway Show.
- Museum-Piece: Gordon, Henry and James are furious to discover Thomas has been chosen to represent the North Western Railway at a railway show in York, but Thomas is delighted and at last leaves Sodor to travel to the Mainland. However, his run is soon cut short when the lock on a crossing gate breaks and the wind blows it across the track; Thomas is unable to stop in time and crashes into the gate, damaging his front and making him unable to continue by rail.
- Not the Ticket: A lorry is arranged to take Thomas to York and although he is mortified, he cannot complain when he gets to travel through the countryside from a different point of view. However, the lorry driver does not know the way to the National Railway Museum and after parking the lorry in the wrong place to find a telephone, a traffic warden gives the disgruntled lorry driver a parking ticket!
- Trouble on the Line: The damage to Thomas' bufferbeam is fixed in the museum's workshop, where Thomas befriends a kindly engine named "Green Arrow". Thomas is later put onto a special line with barriers put up beside. The first day goes without a problem, but near closing time the next day a bag is thrown onto the line and when Thomas brakes to avoid hitting it, a child is frightened by the steam and his furious mother leaves to complain to the manager. Thomas is upset, more so when it is found his brakes are damaged from the collision, but his crew are happy that the crowds may have learnt a lesson from the incident - engines cannot stop at once.
- Thomas and the Railtour: A special railtour is going to the seaside and Thomas is delighted when Green Arrow is chosen to pull the trains. When Green Arrow comes back he tells the others of the amount of visitors and as extra trains are an impossibility, extra coaches are added and Thomas is allowed to double-head the train. On the return run, Thomas sees the ground ahead has been eroded by a nearby river and warns Green Arrow to stop. Buses take the passengers home, but Thomas and Green Arrow are able to make it across the rails safely. When the Fat Controller comes to visit a few days later, he and the museum director present Thomas with a special plaque and make him an honorary member of the National Railway Museum.
This book contains examples of:
- Angry Fist-Shake: The mother does this while yelling at Thomas for frightening her child.
- Artistic License – Geography: In "Thomas and the Railtour", Thomas and Green Arrow are shown at York station waiting to depart. However, the track they are on would take them to Doncaster or Leeds, not the coast.
- Chew-Out Fake-Out: When Thomas sees the museum owner and the Fat Controller, he believe he was going to be sent away for frightening the child, but instead he was congratulated for saving the passengers from a ground eroded by a river and was made an honorary member of the National Railway Museum.
- Famed In-Story: This book provides the first acknowledgement in-universe of the TV adaptations of the stories, when Thomas is informed that the NRM officials have seen him on television.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Gordon, Henry, and James were jealous of Thomas being picked to go to the Great Railway Show.
- Historical Domain Character: Iron Duke
, Green Arrow, Boxhill, Mallard, Duchess of Hamilton, and Rocket are all real-life members of the National Collection. - Humiliation Conga: Thomas' trip to the National Railway Museum is this, starting with his accident with the level crossing, followed by his trip on a flatbed lorry (that gets a parking ticket after the driver gets lost), culminating in the accident with the bag thrown on the line that damages his brakes.
- Hypocrite: James makes a comment about Thomas being old to go to the museum even though he himself was built 2-3 years before him.
- Imagine Spot: After his accident with the level crossing gates, Thomas imagines himself being hauled past James, Henry, and Gordon on a flatbed lorry, to the amusement of the three tender engines.
- It Belongs in a Museum: Gordon, Henry, and James think that Thomas was going to be a museum piece and shouldn't be worried.
- Last of His Kind: Green Arrow is the only survivor of the Class V2 locomotives.
- Mythology Gag: Back in "Duck and Dukes", Duck explained that all the "Dukes" owned by the Great Western had been scrapped. Who does Thomas meet at the NRM? A replica of the namesake of the GWR's Iron Duke Class.
- Reunion Show: In a sense; off-screen, Thomas is reunited with Boxhill, a fellow London, Brighton, and South Coast tank engine he would have worked with in his youth.
- The Smurfette Principle: Duchess of Hamilton, who has a nonspeaking cameo appearance in "Thomas and the Railtour", is the only female steam engine to appear with a face in the entire Railway Series.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: "Not the Ticket" is based on a real event during Christmas when a locomotive from the Nene Valley Railway on low-loader was parked at Peterborough's old market square, as part of a charity fundraiser.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Although published in 1991, the book is set in 1990.
