James

"I am a splendid engine, I love to pull passengers, you know I hate dirty cars."

- James

James is a vain red mixed-traffic engine.

Bio in the Railway Series
James was designed by George Hughes and built at Horwich Works in 1912/13. This engine was an experiment of the 28 class as it was fitted with a leading pony truck in an attempt to cure "nose diving" when at speed. Additionally this engine was fitted with 5'6" driving wheels over the 28 class's 5'1"standard and possibly, unlike the rest of the class had its sand boxes tucked below the extended running plate out of sight. In 1924-5, James was sold to Sir Topham Hatt for mixed traffic duties, at which time he was still mix-traffic black. After his first accident, he was rebuilt with proper brakes and a Fowler tender (due to his old one being badly wrecked from the crash), and repainted red with gold stripes and black lining. He was troublesome when he returned, ruining Sir Topham Hatt's new top-hat with his steam and jarring his coaches so much that a brake pipe leaked. He was threatened to be painted blue (which James detests), but later promised to be useful again and made the lines worst trucks behave after being given a second chance. He also pulled the express for Gordon when the latter was switched off the main line, and went on strike along with Gordon and Henry. He later made rude remarks about Henry when he was using special coal, called Toby and Henrietta 'dirty objects', and subsequently got into an accident with some tar wagons.

James was of the opinion that he would pull the Royal Train, much to the scepticism of the others due to the time he became stuck on Gordon's Hill. Later, James became a runaway when two naughty boys fiddled with his controls, and was rescued by Edward. He and Gordon played a joke on Percy by convincing him of the existence of backing signals. Upon Duck's arrival, Percy and the newcomer blocked James and the other big engines out of the shed as revenge for teasing them. When Diesel arrived on trial, James earned the nickname "Rusty Red Scrap-Iron". James, like the other two, were turned against Duck, but were sorry after receiving proof of his innocence. When Duncan was grumbling with Rusty, James boasted to the little engine that he sent Diesel packing (which of course was done by The Fat Controller). When work began to increase steadily on the railway, James and the others started to complain about it, leading The Fat Controller to buy a goods engine from Scotland, only to receive two. After Donald crashed into a signal box and was in need of repair, James had to handle the goods work for Donald, much to his annoyance, leading him to bump the trucks around, and being tricked by The Spiteful Brakevan, needing to be helped up the hill by Douglas. James stood beside the Scottish twins when they were worried about being sent away, and cheered with the rest when they were to stay. Later, James told Duck not listen to BoCo about bees, claiming that they were only insects after all, and can whoosh them away easily, only to be stung by one the very next morning. James was one of the first engines to know about Oliver, and praised the GWR engine so much he got puffed in the smoke box.

Years later, James was still sceptical to diesel engines, with BoCo and Bear as the exception. He got crossed line with his well wagons on a foggy day, and his injector froze in the winter, so he had to be rescued by a diesel from the works, who was so friendly that James gave up his prejudice with diesels. James once reluctantly doubled the express with Henry when the green engine needed an overhaul at the works, saying two engines on one train is definitely an "over haul". James was the engine chosen to collect the Thin Clergyman's bust, reported the collapse of Henry's Tunnel, and attended the Thin Clergyman's 100th anniversary.

Bio in the Television Series
According to The Adventure Begins, James arrived on Sodor some time after Gordon, at which time he was painted black. His wooden brakes were prone to catching fire and he had trouble stopping quickly; if anyone noticed a burning smell from his brakes, he would deny smelling anything out of the ordinary. James originally owned Annie and Clarabel, and believed The Fat Controller would soon give him his own branch line. James acted as a bully towards Thomas when the tank engine first arrived, but soon after gained some respect for him. They became close friends following James' accident. Some Troublesome Trucks made his wooden brakes catch fire, prompting Thomas to chase after him. James' guard attempted to couple Thomas to the back of the train to slow James down, but as this failed, James could not stop and came off the rails at a bend, scratching his paintwork and destroying most of his trucks. Thomas fetched Jerome and Judy, who lifted James back onto the rails. Thomas then took James to the Steamworks for repairs. When James returned as a splendid red engine, Thomas and Edward did not recognise him. Upon declaring he was ready for his coaches, James realised that his coaches were now Thomas', and the little tank engine now had his own branch line.

James has had several mishaps, most of them caused by his pride of his paintwork. While using Toad as a brakevan on a mainline goods train, he refused to slow down. When a coupler snapped, his train rolled down Gordon's Hill uncontrollably. Toad was able to stop the train before colliding with Thomas, who was pulling a special train with Sir Topham Hatt and his mother. Another incident occurred during a flood in the winter, when James and Rocky inadvertently knocked down a signal. When they stopped to rescue Duck from a flooded track, Oliver was unaware that the track was occupied. He saw them at the last minute, but it was too late to avoid a collision. Immediately afterwards, Percy came around the bend and ran into Oliver. James owned up to Sir Topham Hatt, admitting he should have waited for Rocky to be secured properly before leaving.

In Tale of the Brave, James teases Percy for being afraid of monsters. One night, he gets asked to pull The Flying Kipper since Henry is on the mainland. As he is pulling the train, he hears a voice saying hello to him. It is Gator, but James cannot see his face in the dark. James gets scared by his unusual shape and races away, and ends up derailing at the Fenland track. The other engines tease him about his accident, so James decides to play a trick on Percy so he will be teased instead. That night, when Percy is taking the mail, James uses the scrap monster to scare Percy. The next day, he tries to apologise to Percy, but Percy will not forgive him. The two engines later meet at the Clay Pits, and James decides to show Percy how brave he can be. He puffs into the pits looking for the monster, not noticing his whistle is shaking the cliffs. He sees a dinosaur skeleton sticking out of the cliff wall, and races backward as fast as he can. But his whistling has started an avalanche, so Percy pushes him forward and they race to safety. Once Percy has been repaired, James apologises for teasing him.

In "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure" Salty tells him, Henry, and Edward about a "lost pirate".

James was decorated for The Great Race in 2016

Bio in RPTTTTES Animated
After Henry's accident in the Signalman's House, James waa told by Sir Topham Hatt to take a special visitor.

In The Great Race: The Sequel, James was instead Streamlined along with Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, and Percy

Persona
James is very proud of his splendid red paintwork. He hates pulling trucks, and believes that he should only pull coaches. He thinks himself superior to the others, and can be shallow, boastful, 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 Toby. 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 engine to retain a prejudice against diesels. However, after stalling on a cold day, he was rescued by the Works Diesel, and James had to admit that nothing was wrong with diesels. This appears to be one of the few lessons that has stuck.

Despite everything else, James has shown a caring side, is normally hard-working, and like everybody else, wants to be a responsible, reliable and really useful engine on Sir Topham Hatt's railway.

Basis
In The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, it is stated that James is based on a Class 28 locomotive from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Works, itself a development of the Class 27. The Class 28 engines were designed by George Hughes, and had Belpaire fireboxes, a Schmidt superheater, and an extended footplate and sandbox.

Sodor "historian" Martin Clutterbuck has pointed out that James strongly resembles an G&SWR "Austrian Goods" 2-6-0 from the Glasgow and South Western Railway, but with the addition of a Belpaire firebox. At any rate, the Reverend W. Awdry used an engine of this class to represent James on his model railway. It is possible that he rejected this prototype for James' official "biography" on the grounds that an English locomotive would be more likely to end up on Sodor.

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.

In the television series, James has always been painted NWR red with gold stripes and black lining, with three exceptions: in the tenth season episode The Green Controller, when he was painted yellow and black, like a bumblebee, on Percy's orders. Then, in the thirteenth season episode, Tickled Pink, James was painted in a pink undercoat. Though he was painted red in his official debut episode, he was painted in his black livery from the Railway Series in The Adventure Begins and had lining on the back of his tender. This disappeared when he was given his red livery.

In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab.

James' twins
The Mid-Hants Railway repainted a Southern Railway N Class 2-6-0, No. 31874, into the livery of James. The engine retained this colour scheme for many years, and participated in the Railway Series Golden Jubilee celebrations at the National Railway Museum. However, following the withdrawal of the N Class in 1998, the Mid-Hants Railway quickly repainted its cousin-engine, a Southern Railway U Class 2-6-0, No. 31625, into James for the 1999 season. After the withdrawal of the U Class, the N Class reprised its role as James, only wearing a face during Thomas events. However, due to the fact that both of these engines are privately owned, they will be leaving the Mid-Hants Railway in 2014. For the Mid-Hants Railway's "Steam Railway" supported gala in September 2012, it was decided to repaint N Class No. 31874 in wartime black to carry its Southern identity No. 1874; this means that James will no longer appear at the Thomas events at the Watercress Line.

However, the repainting of the engine created a stir among railway enthusiasts, who felt that it was wrong to paint a historic main line locomotive in such a garish livery. Nevertheless, the locomotive was popular with the railway's younger visitors.

On the East Lancashire Railway, the unrestored LMS 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46428 has been painted as James, although his face only appears during Day Out with Thomas events.

James on the big screen
James was voiced by Susan Roman in Thomas and the Magic Railroad. In the movie, James was present when Diesel 10 first arrived at Tidmouth Sheds. He was also at the Smelter's Yard when Diesel 10 arrived with Junior. He almost got thrown into the smelting pit by Diesel 10, but luckily Junior used his gold dust to magic them to a spot near the magic buffers, where Mr. Conductor was waiting.

Quotes
"This is my first time as a streamlined engine in The Great Railway Show, I'm now faster than ever."

- James, Thomas and the Great Race, Season 2

"At least Aarondonald learns his lesson about swimming in the Water now."

- James, Accidents on Sodor, Season 1