"Race: Heat Three" is the final eliminator heat, in which miraculously Poppa wins a place in the final. Heat Three is specific to the 1984 London Production. In all other productions, the races were simplified to two heats with two finalists from each. In terms of story however, it was the 2nd Heat from the London production which was cut; Heat 3 became Heat 2 in all other productions.
Context[]
In "Race: Heat Two", Rusty tried to race without Pearl, taking Belle as his race partner instead. However he lost to Electra and became more convinced that steam was hopelessly out-dated. To prove him wrong Poppa entered Heat Three as a last minute replacement for City of Milton Keynes, taking Dustin with him. Heat Three results in Poppa winning the heat, but at great personal cost.
Only the original London production used three heats, all other productions using a two-heat, two qualifiers from each heat structure. Heat Three is characterised by Poppa winning, so technically it was not Heat Three that was cut from subsequent productions, but Heat Two where Rusty lost to Electra. Heat Three then logically became Heat Two.
Musically, the main theme heard in this race besides the specific race music, is the "He Whistled At Me" / "Engine of Love" melody representing Poppa the Steamer.
The entries for Heat Three are as follows: