Thomas had been keen to learn to play Truck Scotch, a game that his two friends Percy and James had invented.

So one afternoon, when he had nothing to do, he decided to ask Percy and James how to play.

"It's simple, really!" scoffed James in a lofty voice.

"So you will teach me?" Thomas asked him.

"Of course we will!" Percy told him kindly.

...

So the three proceedead to Wellsworth, where they were using the goods yard to supply trucks and also play their game.

"All you have to do is you biff a truck and you move the number of rails it travels." Percy explained.

"Makes sense." The blue tank engine mused.

"Then how about a game?" James challenged.

Unable to resist, the cheeky blue engine smirked at him.

"You're on, James!"

...

Thomas was well behind. He thought he had been doing well in the game, until he realised the other two were way ahead of him in points.

Once James had his shot, Percy went to have his turn. He biffed his truck as hard as he could.

And it rolled to exactly the same position as James' truck.

"Hey that's not fair! One of us is meant to be ahead, and I want it to be me!"

"It's not my fault my truck ended up in the same place as yours!" Percy snapped back.

"Is!"

"Is not!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"IS!" Bellowed James furiously.

"ISN'T!" Wheeshed Percy just as angrily.

"Wait that's enough!" Thomas protested. He didn't want his friends to fight. "Might I say something?"

Both engines became silent, which he took as a 'yes' and continued.

"Percy is right, James - it's not his fault that the trucks ended up like this. And besides, ties can be fun sometimes, because you can use tie breakers to decide who wins. But there is no reason why you should quarrel about it."

Feeling repentant for their disagreement, the two engine brothers each apologised - especially James.

"So do you want to do the tie breaker?" James asked Percy.

"Yes - what is a tie breaker anyway?"

"Just an extra turn each to see who wins." Thomas explained.

"Okay." Percy conceded.

...

So the two engines held their tie breaker. Percy won the game, and James and Thomas congratulated him for his victory. They also gave a 'well done' to Thomas for playing his first game, and thanked him for helping them make peace.

They all agreed to play again someday, and James and Percy learned it was okay to have ties, so long as no one argued about it.