It was winter time on the Island Of Sodor, at the moment the lines were empty so the snow lay undisturbed on the lines.
At Tidmouth Sheds, the engines were getting ready for the day's work as workmen arrived to fit the engines' snowplows onto them, Thomas pouted a little "I hate wearing my snowplow" he grumbled "it's uncomfortable"
"Well I'm sure you don't want to end up in a snow drift again" James teased "and have Terrance pull you out"
The blue tank engine glared at him as his cheeks went red from embarrassment, he hated to be reminded of the time he got too big for his buffers thinking he didn't need his snowplow and ended up stuck in a snow drift.
Gordon chuckled softly "Not to worry Thomas, I'm sure you have learned your lesson from that" he said quietly to him "I've had my fair share of mishaps when I was a younger engine" he wouldn't deny that he used to be quite pompous and big headed in his younger days, but he had matured greatly over the years and was more wise, yes he could have a temper at times if someone annoyed him too much but even that wasn't as much these days.
Thomas smiled a little "I know, I remember them" he replied and giggled.
The big blue engine gave him a mock glare and smirked a little "And I remember yours" he replied.
The blue tank engine snickered a little.
At that moment the Fat Controller arrived, he had a scarf on and a pair of gloves "Good morning everyone" he greeted as he rubbed his hands together "I hope that you will all take care today, snow can be bothersome, safety is top priority"
"Yes sir" the engines replied.
Sir Topham Hat then looked to James "James, I have a job for you, you need to take some trucks to Brendam Docks for an important coal delivery" he said.
"Yes sir" James replied with a smile.
"Be careful, the tracks have not been properly cleared of snow yet, so the hills will be especially dangerous" the Fat Controller warned "I want you to go the long way round as it will be safer"
"Of course sir" the red engine replied, though he had no intention of doing so.
"Edward, you are to assist the workmen with clearing the lines, especially on the hills" Sir Topham Hat said.
"Yes sir" Edward replied with a smile.
"And Thomas, you are to take trucks of firewood to the stations, Percy will take over on your branchline" the Fat Controller said.
"Yes sir" Thomas and Percy replied with a smile.
"The rest of you will do your normal jobs, those who are pulling passenger trains there will be diversions in place until the tracks on the hills are properly cleared up, the passengers will of course be made aware of this so will know that the journeys will take longer due to the weather" Sir Topham Hat said before he walked back to his car and got in, he drove away.
James huffed "I'm no whimp, I can handle a few snowy hills" he boasted.
"It would be wise if you went the long way round, you know how troublesome snow can be, plus you don't want to be putting your crew at risk" Gordon replied.
"Gordon you're worse than Henry, such a worrier" the red engine retorted.
Gordon huffed a little "You've got much to learn" he replied.
James rolled his eyes as the workmen finished fitting his snowplow "I have a snowplow, so I'll be fine" he said before he puffed out of the sheds.
After he had collected the empty trucks, he puffed through the snowy countryside, not heeding the Fat Controller's or Gordon's warning about not going up any hills until the tracks had been properly cleared, he came to a hill that wasn't very steep "That looks easy" he said "I can save the workmen time by clearing this track and get to the Docks in record time!" so he started up the hill and soon reached the top "haha! I did it!" but as he started going down the other side he found that his wheels slid on the icy tracks when he applied his breaks "bust my boiler!"
Edward was coming up the hill and came to a stop when he saw James speeding down the hill "James! Slow down!" he called.
The red engine tried again and again to slow down, but it was useless, he ended up spraying snow into Edward's face thanks to his snowplow and wheels "Sorry!" he called.
The blue engine gasped as he looked at himself "Oh dear" he said, but he knew there was work to be done so a washdown would have to wait.
Meanwhile, James continied along his route and almost considered changing his mind about going up anymore hills, but he still felt he could deal with the hills so decided to keep going. It didn't take long before he reached another hill, this one looked to be steeper than the last one and the snow looked to be deeper "No big deal" he said as he started up the hill, at first he seemed to be doing alright, but the snow was thicker than he thought and his wheels would slip a little "this is…harder than I thought" his cheeks turned red from the strain but he slowly reached the top of the hill.
At a junction that was close by, Gordon was waiting for his signal to change, there weren't many passengers due to the weather as most stayed home or had been let off work until the snow got better, but there were still the odd few that were mainly in it for the ride through the snowy countryside. The big blue engine hummed to himself as he waited and heard a whistle, he knew it was James and looked towards the hill.
The red engine gave a triumphant laugh "I did it! I did it!" he said, but his joy was short lived when he saw a snow drift at the bottom of the hill "oh no!"
Gordon watched as the snow went all over James' face, he couldn't help but laugh "I warned him" he thought to himself as his signal changed, of course he took the track that went away from the hill.
"I can't see!" the red engine exclaimed, his voice muffled by the snow, he ended up going off the main track towards a siding where some trucks of slate were. He bumped right into them and was covered in slate dust "ugh! My paint is ruined!" he reversed out of the siding, grumbling about how dirty he was.
Meanwhile, Gordon arrived back at Knapford Station after his express run, it had finished earlier than usual due to the snow and safety reasons.
"I see you made it back safely" the Fat Controller said with a smile.
"I did" the big blue engine replied with a smile "but unfortunately James didn't listen, I spotted him coming down one of the hills"
Sir Topham Hat sighed and shook his head "James should know about snow by now, he's been here long enough" he replied.
"Yes, but talking from personal experience, his ego gets in the way of his judgement" Gordon said.
The Fat Controller nodded "It seems to be the case" he replied.
"Well I can at least offer to be on hand if anything does happen" the big blue engine said.
Sir Topham Hat nodded "That would be useful, thank you, be sure to top up on water and coal though" he replied.
"I will" Gordon assured before he puffed to the water tower after being uncoupled from the express, he decided to go and see how James was doing in his predicament.
Meanwhile, James was pushing through the snow, he couldn't believe how deep the snow was getting and swore that it reached the door to his cab. He saw the biggest hill on the Island, Gordon's Hill "I can do that…no problem" he said, but he didn't sound as confident as he had before, he took a deep breath and started up the hill. He thought the snow was soft, but he soon found out that it wasn't soft, instead it started to form a snowball that got bigger and bigger the more he puffed forward.
Gordon approached the bottom of the hill and sighed as he watched his friend who was halfway up his hill "Why did he even attempt to go up my hill?" he muttered, he wasn't aware of the impending danger.
The red engine grunted as he pushed the snowball that was now bigger than him, but it was now too heavy for him to push…and it started to push back on him, he gasped and he spotted Gordon at the bottom of the hill "Gordon look out! Get back!" he called as he quickly backed up from the giant snowball.
The big blue engine gasped a little before he quickly backed up.
James reversed quickly down the hill as the giant snowball gave chase "And I thought boulder was bad, this is worse!" he exclaimed as he reversed into a siding.
Gordon came to a stop round a bend and saw that the giant snowball was heading right for the red engine "James! It's heading straight for you!" he called.
James' eyes widened and would have reversed out of the siding, but he just froze "Help!" he cried.
The big blue engine cringed a little as the snowball hit the red engine and puffed forward.
James was covered in snow, the force of the hit had derailed him so he was stuck.
Gordon sighed "I did warn you about the snow" he said.
The red engine looked down "I know you did, I thought the snow on the hills wouldn't be too bad" he replied.
"You should have gone the long way round, you know Edward was going to be helping the workmen to clear the lines" the big blue engine replied before his look softened a little "you still have a lot to learn when it comes to your ego, take it from someone who knows, I'll go and fetch Rocky so he can get you out"
James smiled a little "Thanks Gordon, I'm sorry for not listening" he said.
Gordon smiled before he puffed away to get Rocky from the Search and Rescue Centre.
Soon James was back on the rails again and his trucks, that were thankfully not damaged, were coupled up to him "Thanks for helping me Gordon" he said.
"It's alright James" Gordon replied with a smile.
"This time, I'm going to go the long way round until Edward finishes clearing the lines on the hills" the red engine said with a smile before he blew his whilstle and puffed to the Docks, this time he didn't go up anymore hills and took the long way round.
That evening, James arrived back at Tidmouth Sheds where his friends were.
"So James, looks like you had to be pulled out of a snow drift too" Thomas teased.
The red engine blushed a little "Well…yes I did, sort of" he replied "it was my own fault really, I should have listened to the Fat Controller's warning"
"Well James, now you know how troublesome snow can be" Edward said and smiled a little "the good news is, all the lines are clear and there's no forecast of snow tonight"
"That's good to know, next time I will make sure that I don't go up any hills if the snow is as bad as it was today" James replied with a smile.
The other engines agreed wholeheartedly.