James (T&F)

JamesRWS.pngJamesTVModel.pngJamesCGI.png
**James** is a red 2-6-0 tender engine who is number 5 on the North Western Railway. He is proud of his splendid red paintwork, but tends to be vain, boastful, and overconfident, and does not like getting dirty. Despite being a mixed-traffic engine, he does not like pulling trucks and feels superior to the others expect the big engines.

## Biography

### Railway Series

James was designed by George Hughes and built by Horwich Works at some point between 1912 and 1913. He was designed as an experimental variation 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", though unlike many other engines at the time, he was fitted with wooden brake blocks. The experiment did not entirely produce the results hoped for, and sometime after the Grouping, James was sold to the North Western Railway.

Shortly after he arrived on the Island of Sodor, James was severely damaged in a crash when 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 red, and gained functional brakes. He gained his Fowler tender around this time.

When James returned from the Works, he became vain and troublesome. While double-heading a passenger train with Edward, he accidentally showered water on Sir Topham Hatt's new top hat, almost forgot to stop at the station, and disturbed an elderly lady with his hiccups. After being threatened by Sir Topham Hatt with a coat of blue paint, James became resentful and started 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. When Sir Topham Hatt finally allowed him out, James was assigned to 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 Sir Topham Hatt had seen everything.

Even though he had proven to be useful, James was still teased by Gordon and Henry 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. Sir Topham Hatt eventually shut them up in the shed and had Thomas and Edward pull their trains, though he allowed them to come out when they were sorry.

On more than one occasion, James has readily accepted help from those he insulted. When Toby and Henrietta came to work on Thomas's branch line, James insulted them by calling them "dirty objects" and boasting about how his red paint is never dirty. But later, some trucks pushed him down Gordon's Hill and he crashed into two tar wagons, spoiling his paint. Toby and Percy pulled James away, but not before Toby teased James about never having dirty paint.

Later, James was impatient with Edward for his clanking and being slow and late, comparing him unfavourably to "a lot of old iron". But when two boys played with James's controls and caused him to run away without anyone in his cab, Edward and an engine inspector came to his rescue and caught him. James wearily and gratefully apologized to Edward for his insults and Edward forgave him.

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. 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 Diesel packing.

James continued to treat diesel engines with hostility, long after the other steam engines had already accepted them. Despite the fact that he liked BoCo and Bear, James was openly unhappy with other diesels, believing them to be inferior in a reverse manner to how unfriendly diesels treat steam engines. However, when his injector froze one wintry day and he had to be rescued by the Works Diesel, James readily ended his prejudiced views, as the diesel had been friendly to him.

In 2011, James was chosen by Sir Topham Hatt to go to the Mainland to collect a bust of Wilbert Awdry and 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.

### Television Series

James's ego sometimes gets him in trouble. When he tried to switch his job of pulling trucks with Gordon's express train, he tricked Thomas into giving him the express coaches by telling him that Sir Topham Hatt ordered him to take the coaches. However, Sir Topham Hatt heard about James's tricks from Gordon and his driver and punished him by leaving him in the shed until he learned his lesson. The following day, he was allowed out to shunt trucks but also got the chance to redeem himself when an inspector requested to ride with James to Sir Topham Hatt. They arrived on time and the Fat Controller considered James a really useful engine.

James's ego has sometimes stopped him from following advice from others. When Percy and Terence tried to warn him about the dangers of trees getting too close to the line, he did not take any notice until a tree literally too close to the line slid on James's tracks. Luckily, Thomas came to his rescue and pulled James away just before the tree fell on him.

James's teasing has also backfired; after he saw Percy being a "middle engine" and made fun of him because of it, James later ended up being made a middle engine himself for which he was teased by Percy. ​​He's also shown to care a lot about his paintwork, having refused to help Percy at the coaling plant because of his admiration of it, wanting to stay nice and clean to be the star of the show and refused to travel across muddy tracks to not get it dirty.

After Thomas told Percy about footprints he had seen at the quarry, James started teasing Percy about a monster being on Sodor. After James himself ended up in mishaps of his own, he decided to make fun of Percy by making him think there was a monster. James was later forced by Thomas to apologize, but Percy refused to listen to what he thought was more of James's teasing which led to James venturing into the quarry to look for the footprints. This ended up causing a rockslide that Percy had to rescue him from, after which James apologized for everything.

## Technical Details

### Basis

James'sBasis.jpegL&YR Class 28
 (James's Basis)
James is based on an L&YR Class 28 with added two front wheels.

### Livery

James is painted NWR red with black and gold linings 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.

## Appearances

* Railway Series
* Television Series

### *Railway Series*

* **Thomas the Tank Engine** - Thomas and the Breakdown Train
* **James the Red Engine** - James and the Top Hat, James and the Bootlace, Troublesome Trucks and James and the Express

### *Thomas & Friends*

* **T&F Season 1** - Thomas Gets Tricked *(cameo)*, Edward Helps Out *(cameo)*, Come Out, Henry! *(cameo)*, Henry to the Rescue *(cameo),* A Big Day for Thomas *(not named)*, Trouble for Thomas *(cameo)*, Thomas Saves the Day, James Learns A Lesson, Foolish Freight Cars, A Proud Day for James, Thomas Goes Fishing, Tenders and Turntables, Trouble in the Shed *(does not speak)*, Percy Runs Away, Henry's Special Coal, The Flying Kipper *(cameo)*, Whistles and Sneezes *(cameo)*, Thomas Breaks the Rules *(cameo)*, James in a Mess, Gordon Takes A Dip *(does not speak)* and Thomas's Christmas Party