James

**James** is a red mixed-traffic tender engine who works on the North Western Railway, usually working along the the Main Line. He can be vain and sometimes boastful, but means well and is a hard worker.

## Biography

### *The Railway Series*

James was designed by George Hughes and built by Horwich Works in 1912/13. He was designed as an experiment of the Class 28 locomotives, with a front pony truck installed at the front and 5'6” sized driving wheels instead of the class' usual 5'1”; these were added in an attempt to cure the “nose-diving” the class experienced when travelling at high speed. The experiment did not entirely produce the results hoped for, and in 1923, James was sold to the North Western Railway. However, when he first arrived on the Island of Sodor, James was damaged in a crash after his trucks pushed him down the line and his wooden brake blocks caught on fire. After being recovered from the wreck, James was sent to Crovan's Gate Works, where he was repaired, repainted into a new red livery and gained proper brakes; he presumably gained his Fowler tender around this time too.

When James returned from the Works, he became vain and troublesome; while double-heading a passenger train with Edward, he accidentally showered water over the Fat Controller's new top hat, almost forgot to stop at the station and disturbed an elderly lady with his hiccups. After being threatened by the Fat Controller with a coat of blue paint, James became grumpy and began bumping the coaches around aggressively, though this backfired on him when one of the brake-pipes began leaking and needed to be mended with a bootlace and some newspapers. Following this incident, James was shut up in the shed until he could learn his lesson. When he was finally let out by the Fat Controller, James was assigned to pulling a goods train to Killdane. Although he had some trouble when some of the trucks broke away, James managed to keep the train under control and deliver it to the station, and was allowed to keep his red paint after the Fat Controller had seen everything.

Even though he had proven to be useful, James was still teased by Gordon and Henry, who mocked him for his past mistakes. However, after Gordon got lost and wound up at Tidmouth, James was allowed to take the express in his place. He did so successfully, and he and Gordon became firm friends.

When Thomas left Tidmouth to run the Ffarquhar Branch Line, James, Gordon and Henry became irritated, as they now had to fetch their own trains. After an incident on the turntable that left him humiliated, James, along with Gordon and Henry, decided to go on strike, refusing to leave the shed and behaving badly when they had to work. The Fat Controller eventually shut them up in the shed and made Thomas and Edward pull their trains, though he allowed them to come out when they were sorry.

When Diesel arrived on trial, James gained the nickname "Rusty Red Scrap-Iron". Believing that Duck was behind the insults, James, along with Gordon and Henry, turned against him. However, when Diesel was exposed and Duck was proven innocent, James and the other engines were sorry and welcomed him back.[6] James later recalled the events of Diesel's visit to Duncan, though he greatly exaggerated certain parts of the tale, making it seem as though *he* was the one who sent him packing.

James continued to treat diesel engines with hostility, long after the other steam engines had already accepted them. Although he liked BoCo and Bear, James was openly nasty to other diesels, believing them to be inferior. However, when his injector froze one wintry day and he had to be rescued by the Works Diesel, James decided to give up his prejudiced views, as the diesel had been friendly to him.

In 2011, James was chosen by the Fat Controller to go to the Mainland to collect a bust of the Thin Clergymanand deliver it to Tidmouth. James did so, but on the way back the entrance to Henry's Tunnel collapsed. Thankfully, James had gone through the tunnel before it collapsed and made it to Tidmouth with the bust. He attended its unveiling alongside the other engines.

## *Thomas & Friends*

James arrived on the North Western Railway sometime before Thomas' arrival, and was originally painted black and wore wooden brake blocks, which were prone to burning up and emitting smoke when stopping. He originally owned Annie and Clarabel and believed that he would be given his own branch line, although the other engines doubted this.

When Thomas came to Sodor, James teased him on several occasions for making mistakes, often joining in with Gordon to make fun of him. However, one day, James ran out of control with a goods train and was unable to stop due to his brake blocks being on fire. Thomas chased after the train and tried to slow it down, but James flew off a bend and crashed in a field, the crash badly damaging him. Thomas rushed back to Knapford and retrieved Jerome and Judy, who helped to clear away the wreckage and placed James back on the rails. James was sent to the Steamworks to be mended, where he received his new red livery. Upon returning from the Steamworks, James found out that Annie and Clarabel now belonged to Thomas, who had been given the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line.

### *Thomas & the Magic Railroad*

In the film, Thomas met James at Tidmouth Sheds until Diesel 10 first arrived and told them his plans to destroy the lost engine named Lady. James and Thomas rebel against Diesel 10. Later on, Thomas, James and Gordon argue about who should have collected Mr. Conductor. After Mr. Conductor is helping to make James' itch go away, James is sad, so Mr. Conductor happily says his red paint is bright and cheerful just like the gold dust and sends him off to work. Sometime afterwards, James appears at the Smelter's Yard when Diesel 10 arrived with Junior. Junior lands onto James' cab, and the two almost got thrown into the smelting pit by Diesel 10. Luckily, Junior used his gold dust to teleport them to a spot near the magic buffers, where Mr. Conductor was waiting. James departs and thanks Junior for his help.

## Personality

James is very proud of his splendid red paintwork. He dislikes pulling trucks (though not to the extent that Gordon does) and is so self-centred that he thinks himself superior to the others and can be shallow, boastful, overconfident, arrogant, prideful, naughty and vain, particularly to those who appear old-fashioned, weak, slow or dirty. This has caused him to have somewhat of a rivalry with Edward, Percy, Toby and Duck, as well as Thomas, Gordon, Henry and even Philip lately on occasion. His vanity reached the point that he tried to block Edward from a photographer's view when Edward was having his picture taken and when he tried to get his job done quick so he can take the present train. In most cases, it takes scolding from others to make his penny drop, and even then it is too late to prevent trouble. He has acted like this even before he was repainted red. However, on a number of occasions, he has found himself in need of help from those whom he has insulted and is, in the end, apologetic.

James was the last of the steam engines to retain a prejudice against diesels, insulting them the same way other visiting diesels would insult the steam engines on Sodor, with BoCo and Bear barely being spared from his opinionated view. However, after stalling on a cold day, he was rescued by the Works Diesel and had to admit that nothing was wrong with diesels. This appears to be one of the few lessons that have stuck. Despite this, James can remain highly opinionated on someone's character, refusing to believe Sonny had given up life as a criminal, only to find out the hard way that when Sonny bumped him at the docks, it was to save him from being splattered and dented by watermelons. In similar situations, James often feels remorse and guilt for his actions, often leading to his apologies coming out meekly.

James can also be somewhat and has been portrayed as a prankster at times, often tricking or scaring the other engines for fun or to get out of jobs he dislikes doing. However, following a particularly mean-spirited prank he played on Percy in the time he scared with a monster made of scrap, this gimmick seems to have died down. As of the meeting videos, he has been labelled as the "Joker" of the Steam Team by Thomas.

Despite all of that, James has shown a caring side to him. He has a heart of gold and wants to help anyone in a time of need. He is normally hard-working and, like everyone else, wants to be responsible, reliable and really useful on the Fat Controller's railway. Although his vanity usually hides it, James actually is capable of realizing when he crosses the line. Because of his constant arrogance, he is among some of Sodor's most notorious troublemakers.

## Livery

James was originally painted in L&YR's mixed traffic black with red lining before his accident and was given his red coat with yellow stripes and black lining to cheer him up. Sometime during the 1960s, James' black lining was repainted blue and gold. James has the number "5" painted in bright yellow with a blue border on his tender sides. Throughout the Railway Series, the illustrators would make his cab roof either red or black. Clive Spong, however, has always made James' cab roof red.

James has also been seen in several other liveries aside from his red one:

* In the *Railway Series*, James was originally painted in the L&YR's mixed-traffic black livery. In the television series, James was always painted red, even when he was a new engine, but did have his black livery in*The Adventure Begins*. He also had red lining on the back of his tender, which was removed after his repaint.
* In *The Green Controller*, James was mistakenly painted in yellow and black stripes on Percy's orders. He was quickly repainted back into his original livery when the problem was noticed.
* In *Tickled Pink*, James was painted in a pink undercoat before his red paint could be applied. Although he was said to be in an undercoat, James still retained his lining, number and black wheels and smokebox.
* In *The Great Race*, James was painted in golden floral patterns for the Great Railway Show. He was repainted back into his original livery when he returned to Sodor.
* In *An Engine of Many Colours*, after hearing Kevin mention the Steamworks didn't have any red paint, James dreams he's painted in many different colours including blue, green and silver. But by the end of the episode, he is repainted in his normal red livery.

## Trivia

* James is also Rarity's boyfriend which makes him Spike's love rival due to his crush on Rarity.
* James also share with Sarah's twin brother the same name in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventure Team.
* James also understands Sweetie Belle's problems which shows that he didn't always agree with Rarity.
* James has been painted in more liveries than any other engine in the television series, with a total of four.
* In Toby's New Whistle, James revealed that he once had a three-chimed whistle.
* James' nickname is Jamesy which Rarity calls him that sometimes.
* Starting from *The Adventure Begins*, James's catchphrase is "Here's James!", which is similar to the 1980 film, *The Shining*.
* James has been painted in more liveries than any other engine in the television series, with a total of seven.
* James has been shown to be quite popular among several people who worked on the series:
	+ Andrew Brenner has said in an interview that James is one of his favourite characters, along with Toby, Bill and Ben.
	+ Mara Wilson stated on Twitter that James was her favourite character.
	+ Sam Barlow has said in an interview that James is one of his favourite characters, along with Gordon, Victor and Kevin.