However, after Gordon got lost and wound up at Tidmouth, James was allowed to take the express in his place. 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.Įven though he had proven to be useful, James was still teased by Gordon and Henry for his past mistakes. When the Fat Controller finally allowed him out, James was assigned to a goods train to Killdane. Following this incident, James was shut up in the shed. After being threatened by the Fat Controller 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. While double-heading a passenger train with Edward, he accidentally showered water on the Fat Controller's new top hat, almost forgot to stop at the station, and disturbed an elderly lady with his hiccups. When James returned from the Works, he became vain and troublesome. He gained his Fowler tender around this time. After being recovered from the wreck, James was sent to Crovan's Gate Works, where he was repaired, repainted red, and gained functional brakes. 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. The experiment did not entirely produce the results hoped for, and sometime after the Grouping, James was sold to the North Western Railway. 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" (added in an attempt to cure the "nose-diving" the class experienced when travelling at high speed), though unlike many other engines at the time, he was fitted with wooden brake blocks. James was designed by George Hughes and built by Horwich Works at some point between 19.