One day the Fat Controller came to Tidmouth Sheds to give jobs to his engines.

"Thomas, Edward you will run your branch lines as usual, Gordon you will take the Express, Emily you will take the Morning Local, Henry you will be doing Main Line goods and Percy you will handle branch line goods. Ah, James I want you to pick up some trucks of eggs from McColl Farm and deliver them to Hackenbeck."

"Why can't Thomas or Percy do it? They work on that branch line." James asked.

The Fat Controller sighed. "One, their busy, two I'm asking you to do this job, so please do it and be careful with the eggs." He walked to his car and drove away.

James was cross, he didn't want to pull trucks full of eggs he wanted to pull coaches full of passengers. "Silly eggs" he muttered "I hate them".

"Why do you hate eggs James?" Thomas asked.

"Why? There sticky and messy and are carried in disgusting trucks." He then had had an idea. "I'll rush this job so I can get to pulling passengers sooner".

"That's not a good idea James. I was once impatient when delivering eggs and-" James quickly steamed off. "Never mind, you'll soon learn for yourself."

Soon James reached McColl Farm where workmen were slowly loading a long line of trucks with eggs. He whistled impatiently.

"Come on, hurry up! I have more suitable jobs to do!" He yelled.

Farmer McColl came over "You need to be patient James" he said. "Eggs are very delicate and if we don't load them carefully they could crack and break". But James didn't listen.

Soon the eggs were loaded. "Ok James you can go but be..." James hurried away as fast as he could. "Careful." Farmer McColl sighed "Sometimes I wonder why I transport my goods by rail, something always goes wrong."

Soon James was speeding along Thomas' branch line wanting to deliver the eggs as soon as possible. His driver however was soon worried about the high speed they were going.

"Slow down James" he warned "If we keep going this fast we could break the eggs or even have an accident". But again James wouldn't listen and didn't slow down.

Soon James' driver decided to force James to go slower by applying the brakes but still James didn't slow down. Just then they saw a Red Signal in the distance.

"Slow down James. NOW!" His driver ordered before applying the brakes as hard as he could. This time James didn't stop him. They stopped with a thud as the trucks bashed into James' tender and themselves. This caused many eggs to break and others to fly threw the air before landing all over James with a crack.

"Yuck!" The Red Engine exclaimed in disgust "The eggs have ruined my paintwork. RUINED IT! I'll need a repaint now."

"Come on, it's not that bad, it's just egg it'll wash off easily" His fireman said but James ignored him.

"When the Fat Controller comes I'm demanding a repaint." James yelled. But when he did come James didn't ask for one from the furious man.

"James!" The Fat Controller shouted "You have caused confusion and delay! Not to mention cost the Railway and Farmer McColl a lot of money. And worst of all I won't be able to have fried eggs with my English Breakfast tomorrow! Why were you going so Fast?"

"I'm s-sorry sir. I didn't want pull egg trucks so I decided to go fast to get it done quicker."

The Fat Controller sighed "How many times do you have to learn this lesson James? Sometimes can't do the jobs you want to do. And also when delivering delicate things you must be patient and careful, not dangerously rush about."

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir. I will learn from my mistakes sir." James replied.

"Good. But I still have to punish you James. You will deliver a train of eggs once a week for a year. Now go to the washdown and get that egg cleaned off." He jumped into Winston and 'drove' away. James went to washdown soon after.

A week later it was time for him to deliver eggs again. This time he patiently waited for his trucks to be loaded and went slowly and carefully while delivering them. While he would still prefer to be pulling passengers he now knew he had to do the job he was given properly. He never had another accident while pulling eggs again.

The Fat Controller also got his fried eggs. "This is delicious, dear." He said to his wife while devouring his breakfast.