James

**James the Red Engine** is one of the main protagonists of the SeventyVerse and the fifth engine on the North Western Railway.

## Backstory

James was built as an experimental 2-6-0 engine from the L&YR Class 28s. This front pony truck was to prevent the nitrous 'nose-diving', however, it didn't provide the results the builders expected. Later on, James was sold to the Island of Sodor's North Western Railway. There, he was taken under Edward's care and admired Glynn's shiny red paint. When Glynn was withdrawn shortly after, James felt an overwhelming guilt. After his infamous accident, James got repainted red to honour Glynn's legacy.

## Main Line crew

### Henry

Henry and James are often butting smokeboxes, and argue over who's to take the express when Gordon's unavailable. However, when Henry crashed into the back of James' goods train, the red engine felt an overwhelming guilt. Despite their spats, the two do have each other's backs.

### Gordon

Gordon and James have a turbulent friendship. Occasionally, Gordon calls James a 'goods engine' or calls him 'little', but he does have James' back. Their relationship was especially strained when Gordon blamed James for Edward departing Tidmouth sheds, but Gordon did feel guilty about that.

### Donald and Douglas

James helped Douglas up the hill when the Spiteful break van was making fun of him. Douglas later repaid James' favour, and accidentally crushed Old Spiteful in the process. Not as much as known about James' relationship with Donald, but both twins do get annoyed with James' showing off.

### Bear

Bear was able to sooth James' ruffled feelings when he had an incident with a signal, and even joked that the signalman doesn't know the difference in engines' whistles/toots. However, Bear and James did get at odds with each other when they got effected by the frost. Bear still came to James' aid though.

### Emily

Like Gordon, James accused Emily of stealing Annie and Clarabel on purpose. However, he doesn't have as much respect for Emily as Gordon does. Emily teases James when he gets all huffy, and sees him as a little brother.

### Murdoch

Not much is known about their relationship, but James is grateful that Murdoch helped out on the London trip.

### Rebecca

The duo are currently shedmates at Tidmouth. Not too much is known about their relationship, but James is very surprised that Rebecca likes pulling trucks.

## Other relationships

### Thomas

Thomas and James' relationship has been quite turbulent. Both are quite full of themselves and want to be the best. But when it boils down to it, the two engines have each other's backs. Thomas rescued James after he derailed back when he was in his black livery, and James felt bad when Thomas derailed into a pond because he faked sick.

### Edward

The relationship with Edward and James is very on-off. Sometimes, James is annoyed with Edward for being late or when he's struggling with a train. Other times, James is very grateful to Edward, such as when he mentored him and when Edward caught him after he ran away. James also suspected Edward was gay and had feelings for BoCo, and had kept his word on allowing Edward to reveal the truth when he was ready.

### Percy

Percy and James' relationship hasn't been that great. The two were one-upping each other during a 'jam factory' incident, James laughed at Percy for crashing into a baggage trolley, and Percy pranked James with having a special job. That being said, they do have their moments of caring for each other, such as Percy saving James from an avalanche.

### Toby

James is very annoyed with Toby using his wits to get back at him. Incidents such as Thomas telling Toby about James' bootlaces and Toby laughing at James' expense when taking him to the works station haven't improved relations. That being said, the duo don't hate each other.

### Glynn

James only met Glynn a small number of times, but seeing his red paint left an impact on him. James chose to be painted red to remember Glynn's legacy. It's currently unknown how the two interact with each other post-Ulfestead Castle restoration.

## Romance

### Molly

One would never assume Molly and James would have gotten together. But as it turned out, James was like the blazing fire to Molly's pool of calm water. It's currently unknown how the two had gotten together, but their romance will play a part in the series 9-10 redux as well as the upcoming *Journey Beyond Sodor* rewrite.

## Personality

James is quite vain about his red coat, is cocky and has a preference for passengers. However, underneath his shiny livery and brass is a bundle of insecurity. In the first eight or so years of being on Sodor, he felt like he hadn't made much of an impact on his life. This will be further explored in the upcoming *Journey Beyond Sodor* rewrite.

## Technical Details

### Basis

James is a L&YR Class 28, built between 1909-1912, but rebuilt from the L&YR Class 27s between 1911-1922 (The 27s were built from 1889-1918). James does have a real life counterpart, but due to limited information about his class' numbering system, a number hasn't been decided yet. James has been modified sometime before he came to Sodor, he is fitted with a front pony truck (thus making him a 2-6-0 instead of an 0-6-0), 5'6" driving wheels instead of the class' original 5'1" ones and a Fowler tender. His front sandboxes also appear to be mounted underneath his footplate rather than joined to his leading splashers.

### Livery

James is painted in scarlet red with black lining and yellow cab window frames. He has gold boiler bands and a brass dome. His number (5) is painted on his tender in yellow with a black outline. He has a white running board with red bufferbeams and valences.

When he first arrived on Sodor, James was painted black with red lining and boiler bands; his red livery was given to him to cheer him up after the accident.

In *Paint the Railway Pink*, James was temporarily painted in a pink undercoat.

James' pink livery
## Differences from the episodes and the books

* The book and, despite some continuity issues in the TV show, mentions James crashed on his 'first day'. In *The Adventure Begins*, James crashed when he was already on Sodor for a while. The SeventyVerse confirmed James had been on Sodor for about a year prior to the crash.
* James wasn't the engine who tried to push Henry out of the tunnel in this community. It was Johnson, the unnamed red engine from *Three Railway Engines*.
* James was black in the books and *The Adventure Begins* when he crashed. In the TV show's first season, he was red.
* James was on Sodor before Thomas in *The Adventure Begins*. In the books, he came after Thomas was on Sodor for just under a decade.
* In the SeventyVerse, Edward had mentored James before he mentored Thomas.

## Trivia

* The preferred voice actor for James is Rob Rackstraw, who voiced James in both the UK and US dubs.
* Even though James is in a relationship with Molly, he's actually bi.
* James is autistic. Reasons behind this speculation are hating being alone.