A/N This may carry a mixture of TRS and TV, because of James A Williams.

Hello, it's me, James the Red Engine. This story's not my favorite, but my friends say I've got to tell it and the next.

I was out of the works and enjoying my life on Sodor, but I still had more to learn.

Sir Topham Hatt told me, 'You're a special mixed traffic engine. You can pull coaches or freight cars quite easily, but you must learn from your mistakes."

I knew what he meant and it was my first day's accident.

"Be careful with the coaches, James," Edward told me. "They don't like being bumped." We were double-heading a train.

Everyone admired me, so I thought I'm really a splendid engine and wheeshed steam. I got Sir Topham Hatt's new hat wet and when my conductor blew his whistle, I got out of there.

"Go on, go on", I puffed to Edward.

Edward's reply was, "Don't push, don't push!,"

The coaches grumbled, "Don't go so fast, don't go so fast!"

I went fast anyway and had two coaches beyond the platform at the station. We had to back up to fix that. But I was happy no one knew what happened to our controller's hat. We came to a station where Thomas was with his two coaches.

"Hello, James," I heard Thomas say. "Feeling better? That's good. Oh, that's my conductor's whistle. I must go. I don't know what Sir Topham Hatt would do without me to run this branch line."

I watched him puff away from us importantly. He's gotten a bit stuck-up since he rescued me. But he's not really a bad engine. I know he can be cheeky, but he was my rescuer that first day on NWR. We passed the field where my accident occurred. The time since then was enough for the fence to be mended and the cows to be back. We ended our journey, then rest before going home. I still wondered what Sir Topham Hatt would say about me wheeshing his hat. Next morning, he spoke severely to me.

"If you can't behave, I shall take away your red coat and have you painted blue," Sir Topham Hatt said. I'd look like Edward, I thought as he said that part about me being blue. I'm the same length as him. Also we're both mixed traffic tender engines.

Because of how much I didn't like the idea of being painted blue, I was very rough with the coaches as we came to the platform. Working with Edward the previous day probably helped bring the ways I'm like him to mind, though it was just those coaches and me this time.

Don't talk, come on! Gordon never fetches his own coaches. And he's only painted blue, I thought.

No one came to admire me this day and that made me more cross.

I'll show them, I thought. "They think Gordon is the only engine who can pull coaches. Hurry, hurry, hurry!" I puffed .

The coaches said, "You're going too fast, you're going too fast!" I laughed and tried to go faster, but they wouldn't let me.

"We're going to stop, we're going to stop," they told me.

We did come to a stop and I asked Driver "What's the matter?"

Driver said, "The brakes are on, leak in the pipe, most likely. You've banged the coaches hard enough to make a leak in anything."

The conductor asked "How shall we mend it?"

Driver said, "We'll do it with newspaper and a leather bootlace.".

The conductor then asked, "But where's the bootlace coming from?".

Driver said, "Ask the passengers.".

The conductor said, "You have a leather bootlace.", to a smartly dressed man, Jeremiah Jobling. "Please give it to me."

He said, "I won't.".

The conductor said, "Then I'm afraid the train will just stop where it is.". I heard him say that and it made me cross. If I'm late, I thought. I might get repainted blue.

The other passengers complained about the railway being bad, then about that man being bad. They were all very cross. At last, he handed his bootlaces over. Driver tied newspaper over the hole with them and I was able to pull my train again. I was unhappy, but I knew to be careful not to bump my coaches now. I didn't want to have any more leaking brakes.

A/N I felt use of "we" was warranted when referring to James and the coaches as they're all alive.