98462 was quick to speak to the Fat Director.
"I wish to teach James a lesson for what he said to Timmy," he told him.
"Look, 98462, I get that you're upset," said the Fat Director. "However, things could get worse if you try to get violent. I advise against such actions."
"So you're saying I should just let it go? Do you have any idea what could happen if I do? James will start up again."
"And if you interfere, he'll take advantage of Timmy when you aren't around," said the Fat Director.
"Ugh, fine," snorted 98462. "But hear this, Sir Topham: if James starts attacking Timmy again, I'm not holding back."
And with that, 98462 puffed away.
"I don't know how I feel about 98462 being devious to protect Timmy," he said to himself.
James hadn't been thinking of Timmy: he was too busy showing off his shiny red paint to everyone he passed as he went down the mainline.
"Look at me! Pride of the line and everybody knows it!" he bragged at Wellsworth.
"Rubbish!" scoffed Rolf. "We're ALL pride of the line."
"Course you'd say that, being a measly goods engine," snorted James. "I, on the other hand, am mixed-traffic: I can be used for anything."
Rolf rolled his eyes at this.
The Fat Director soon found that James would pull anything, but refused to touch coal trains, or any minerals for that matter. At the time, this wasn't an issue: Luci was handling these trains with no problem. Even so, this caused James to begin bragging even more.
"Cleanest trains, that's me," he boasted one night in the sheds. "I'm too important for dirty goods! . Everybody comes to see me, it wouldn't do for the passengers to see me all covered in dirt and dust."
Gordon, at last, lost patience.
"You're only a goods engine," he said. "I've not seen you pull passengers that much."
"I DO pull passengers!" snapped James.
"Not as well as I do," boasted Gordon. "I'm the only engine who can pull the Wild Nor Wester. When I'm not there, they need two engines."
"Well…" stuttered James, "the Fat Director…has plans for me!"
"What plans?" asked Gordon suspiciously.
"Oh, well, uh…wait and see!"
"Much talk from an engine that can't climb a fucking hill," put in Timmy.
"I told you before: the trucks were responsible, not me!" Gordon snapped.
"I've heard the same happened with coaches," said Lily. Gordon got so mad, his safety valve blew up.
"Watch it: you don't want to be rescued by Edward and I again," chuckled Henry.
As the engines argued, James steamed out of the sheds with worry.
"Oh dear, what shall I do?" he asked himself. "Gordon won't believe me forever. I gotta think of something."
He had a stroke of luck the next morning. Henry couldn't get steam up properly, so James was quick to volunteer to take the first fast train of the day.
"See Gordon? I told you! Our director DID have plans," boasted James, as Gordon backed onto the Wild Nor Wester.
"Pah!" snorted Gordon. "You only got lucky, he'd never trust you with the Wild Nor Wester. That's the most important train on this island, that's why I pull it: only the most important engine pulls the most important train."
"Did you know Thomas took a Pullman once?" James asked. Gordon's jaw dropped. James laughed and steamed off when the guard blew his whistle.
When Gordon recovered, he immediately confronted Thomas at the Junction.
"What right have you to go around pulling Pullman trains?!" he scolded the E2. "Those are reserved for important tender engines like me, not small tank engines like you!"
"For crying out loud, Gordon, it was before you came!" snapped Thomas. "Also, it was for Conan and Jewelie's wedding, nobody was more suited."
Gordon was speechless. Instead, he gave Thomas a hard bump which caused the E2 to smash through some buffers.
"Gordon, that's enough!" scolded the Fat Director.
"Sir?! What are you doing here?!" he asked in surprise.
"I came here to see how Thomas was getting on," the Fat Director answered. "And I'm not pleased with how you're acting: like Thomas said, it was before you came. As punishment, you'll be on slow milk trains for the rest of the week. Don't make me turn it permanent: you left the Wild Nor Wester back at Tidmouth anyway, so you have no right to say you have more duties to attend to."
"I…yes sir," said Gordon sadly, and he puffed back to Tidmouth. The Fat Director walked up to Thomas.
"Are you alright, Thomas?" he asked.
"I think so," said Thomas.
"All the same," said the Fat Director, "I think I should send you over to Vickers Shipyard: I've been meaning to give you some modifications anyway, and I don't know if Crovan's Gate has the facilities right now to add them."
"What sort of modifications?" asked Thomas.
"Well, as you know, I was an apprentice at Swindon on the Great Western," the Fat Director answered. "They have these things called autotrains where an engine can be controlled from a carriage that has driving controls on one end. I'm thinking having you push-pull fitted will do wonders for services on your branch line. Two of your siblings, 103 and 104, were trialled on push-pull trains from London Victoria to London Crystal Palace, but were found to have insufficient water capacity. However, I think you'll have enough water for your line."
Thomas still didn't get it, but nonetheless, he agreed.
98462 soon found James was becoming more insufferable than ever, particularly when they met at Killdane.
"Of course you'd be stuck on goods," said James. "You're much too ugly for passenger trains."
"You better watch your words," warned 98462. "I'm not on goods for my looks: I'm on goods because I was devious and a jerk, hence me having no name. You keep that attitude up, you'll be stuck on rubbish trains."
"You got some nerve saying that!" shouted James. "I'm too splendid for such smelly trains!"
"That's not how this railway works," said 98462.
"Well it's how I work and you can't change that!" James snapped. 98462 rolled his eyes and steamed off.
When Thomas arrived at Vickers, he was most surprised to find two bogie coaches also there. One of them had large windows at the end, the other didn't. However, the E2 couldn't help but feel he'd seen similar coaches before.
"What railway were you two from?" he asked. The coach with the windows was the first to speak.
"The London, Brighton, and South Coast," she said.
"Hey, that's where I'm from!" shouted Thomas excitedly. "By the way, nice windows you got."
"Well, only the best windows for the best push-pull coach," said the coach proudly. The other coach harrumphed.
"I don't see why I have to be here," she snorted. "I'm a first class express coach, not a third-class branch line coach."
"You don't look like an express coach to me," said Thomas. "I don't see any gangways."
"Of course not: they were taken off when I was demoted!" snapped the coach.
"Gee, somebody's fussy," snorted Thomas. "What are your names?"
"Names?" asked the coach with plain ends.
"Well you have to be called something," Thomas pointed out, and thought for a bit. "I mean, if we're going to be working together, I can't just refer to you as coach 1 and coach 2."
"And what makes you think we'll be working with you?" asked the plain-ended coach.
"Well, my director Sir Topham Hatt told me I was to be push-pull fitted for my branch line," Thomas answered. "And since you're both push-pull coaches, that means you'll both be working with me."
"You're way too small to be running a branch line," snorted the coach.
"And YOU'RE way too old to be used on express trains," retorted Thomas.
"How dare you call me old!" snapped the coach.
"Alright, alright, settle down," said the coach with windows. "There's somebody coming."
"I see you've met your new coaches," said the Fat Director. "And it seems two of you are already not getting along."
"Sorry sir," said Thomas.
"Anyway," said the Fat Director, "I bought these coaches from the Southern. They don't have any names, though you probably already know that. Anyway, your repairs and the installation of the equipment won't take too long."
"Sir, I'm already push-pull fitted!" the windowed coach pointed out.
"Not with the equipment I prefer to see," said the Fat Director. The coach wasn't sure what to think of that.
"Why should I work on a branch line?" asked the plain-ended coach. "I was built for express trains for crying out loud!"
"You may have been built for express trains," said the Fat Director, "but you're no longer suited: nowadays, express coaches have gangways. You never had, am I right?"
"Well…yes," admitted the coach.
"Also, the new Maunsell carriages are, dare I say it, much more modern and comfortable," said the Fat Director. The coach just huffed.
Back on Sodor, Gordon was once again belittling James.
"You only got lucky," he said. "The Fat Director would never let you pull another.. ."
"Neigh!"
Gordon jumped!
"What was that?!" he asked in surprise.
"Just a horse," said Olive, pulling in with a strange-looking covered wagon. "The Flying Thunderbolt, a racehorse."
"Who cares?"
"I do," said Olive.
Gordon just grunted and puffed away.
"There's gotta be a way to show Gordon I'm more than just a goods engine," muttered James.
The week passed without much incident, and one morning, James entered the station to find Timmy shunting some coaches he hadn't seen before. They were wooden-framed and panelled, had a fully beaded body with a semi-elliptical roof, mounted on steel underframes, and definitely shiny. James was in love.
"Wow What fascinating coaches!" he exclaimed.
"These," said Timmy, "are LMS coaches built for the NWR. Some kind of good-will gesture I believe. Gordon's using them for the express, I'll get your trucks soon James."
James was heartbroken. He began to hatch a plan.
"Actually, the Fat Director wants ME to test these coaches: says they're perfect for me."
"But…what about the trucks?" asked timmy.
"Oh! Why don't we give those trucks to Gordon? It'll be fun!" James replied.
"No time to check if what he's saying is true," said Timmy's driver. "We have another train to arrange."
Timmy left the coaches and went off back to the carriage sheds. James then turned around and coupled up to the coaches.
When Gordon arrived, he felt confused, particularly when his coaches weren't there.
"Where's the express?" he asked Timmy.
Timmy told the A0 what James had said.
"Don't worry Gordon," he said, "I have your trucks right here."
Gordon was furious, and so was his driver.
"Wait until the Fat Director hears about this," he said. Gordon was so angry his tubes burst.
Meanwhile, James trundled down the line, enjoying himself.
"Such a clever plan! Such a clever plan!" he boasted. But the fun came to an end at Crovan's Gate: there, standing crossly on the platform, was the Fat Director.
"Some jokes are funny, James," he said, "but not this one. "You've caused plenty of confusion."
"Sorry sir."
"I'll have Ian complete the express run today. Meanwhile, you'll head back to Tidmouth with some empty trucks and will stay in the shed for as long as necessary."
"Right away, sir," said James sadly.
"I have to admit, however, that you not only kept to the schedule, but broke a record," said the Fat Director. "Even so, this doesn't excuse your behaviour."
James ended up staying in Tidmouth for a week, 98462 letting him know EXACTLY how he felt about Timmy being tricked. Each day, Gordon and Henry would tease him.
"My dear engine," said Gordon, "who do you suppose will take the express today?"
"I bet it'll be you!" laughed Henry. "James isn't allowed to leave the sheds."
"Well, considering I climb the hill better than you…" put in Lily.
Gordon's fire died. James just stood there, sadly contemplating things.
At the end of the week, he was allowed back to work. The first thing he did was speak to Timmy.
"I'm sorry I tricked you," he said. "Are these my trucks?"
"Yes they are," said Timmy. "And I can definitely say they've missed you."
James set to work, pleased all was well.
(Author's Note: Our first adaptation of one of the TV episodes, this one being expanded. While this one was originally intended to focus more on the rivalry between James and 98462, somehow, it evolved into this, not that we're upset about it.)