Every morning, the Fat Director would come to Wellsworth to catch his train, always making sure to say "Hullo!" to Thomas. The E2 had grown considerably since he started working at Wellsworth: not only had he taken some levels on kindness, he had begun to form a friendship with the Wellsworth and Suddery Engines. He was still cheeky, but no longer tried to play practical jokes on the other engines. In fact, he seemed to have become much more responsible and could easily handle trucks now.

December soon arrived and for the first time, Thomas found himself handling every service on the Wellsworth Line. Conan stayed by his side all he could. The E2 took great pride in being the only engine being run regularly during this time and made sure the others knew about it.

"The Fat Director trusts me greatly to leave an entire branch line to me," he told Olive one morning. "I don't know what this line would do if I wasn't here to keep things going."

"Oh yeah? What about Rolf and the Manning Wardles?" Olive asked. "Not to mention Edward, he's still being used."

"Well, yes, they did help, but with less work than there was in summer, I've been put in charge solely."

Thomas was right, but not in the way he thought: over November, the three Wellsworth and Suddery engines had broken various bits and pieces. They were sent to Vickers for another overhaul. As for Edward, the K2 had been put in charge of post trains for the winter season. He still helped out on the Wellsworth Line whenever he could, but the overhauls meant it was mostly up to Thomas to handle the line and keep the people it served happy.

As the month passed, Thomas found himself slowly becoming frustrated: the lack of passengers and goods meant mixed trains were used, something he soon found he wasn't able to handle.

"Everything alright, Thomas?" Edward asked one night when Thomas returned to the shed.

"It would be if the coaches and trucks didn't argue all the time!" answered Thomas crossly. "Why can't they just get along?"

"It's a good question," admitted Edward, "and one I don't think I can answer. I'll tell you what: the Fat Director recently purchased a new engine called James from Lily's old railway. He'll arrive sometime during the month. Not sure if it'll be tomorrow, as Horwich is a long way from here, but in regards to that, the Fat Director has agreed to let me stay at Wellsworth for the rest of the season. Would you like me to teach you how to handle mixed trains?"

"Yes please, Edward!" said Thomas happily.

When Lily heard about the new engine, she wasn't too happy.

"I was hoping I'd never have to deal with engines from my old railway again," she said to Olive. "Too many bad memories from there."

"Are you saying they were all jerks? Surely not all of them were!" Olive pointed out. "Or were you also a bully to some of them?"

"Well… It's a long story… I don't have the time to tell."

"What are you talking about? There's plenty of time to…" Olive was interrupted by the guard blowing his whistle. "Oh! You were being serious! Well, take care Lily, I wish you luck."

And with that, Olive steamed out of Tidmouth. Lily sighed. If that was the class 28 she was thinking, then Olive's assumptions were true: she would need luck.

On the last week of the month, a 2-6-0 engine steamed shyly into Vicarstown. The engine was painted black with red lining, similar to Lily. His wheels had no cylinders: they were hidden behind the wheels. Behind him were several trucks, who didn't seem to be friendly.

"Hullo!" he called, coming to a stop in the platform. "Anybody here?"

The Fat Director strode over.

"Ah! You must be James. Welcome to Sodor. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to head over to the sheds: you'll most likely want to rest after such a long journey."

"Y-yes sir. Please, could you send this lot for scrap?" he begged. "They've been giving me trouble all day."

"They look alright to me," said the Fat Director. "Leave them here, I'll have another engine look after them while you rest up."

James was uncoupled and went to the sheds. The trucks began insulting the Fat Director as soon as James was out of earshot.

"Fatty's hungry, look out: he'll eat us alive!" And they laughed. The Fat Director was not amused.

"Disrespect on my railway…"

"Look, fatso. You ain't our boss, so fuck off! Otherwise, we'll run you down and turn you into stew!"

Shaking his head, the Fat Director called for Timmy to shunt them away. Other trucks had overheard the entire conversation and were not pleased.

"What gives you the right to insult our director like that?" asked one of the Sodor trucks.

"Not to mention how rude you were to that engine: he wasn't giving you any harm!" agreed another. The mainland trucks snarled.

"Doesn't matter what he did to us, he's an easy target," one of them said. "He's too chicken to fight back."

"You do it for fun?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" shouted a brake van. "Trucks work with their engine, not against them! Honestly, you lot make me sick."

"Exactly!" agreed a cattle van. "Taking advantage of an engine who won't fight back and insulting our director, you're heartless bastards."

"Well, how's this? Tomorrow, we'll push him down the steepest hill we find, and we'll make him crash so hard he'll be sent for scrap! Isn't that cool, boys?"

"Well," said a Sudrian truck, "sounds like you lot hate life." And the Sodor trucks giggled, much to the fury of the mainland trucks.

"That's not funny!" shouted a mainland truck.

"Well now you know how Sir Topham Hatt felt when you insulted him," said the brake van. "If you want to stay on this island, you better shape up."

"Nah. Too boring. We want action! Bigger the better! It's all the more fun!"

The Sodor trucks decided the mainland trucks were hopeless and gave up trying to reason.

"It's a pity," said the cattle van, "but they'll just have to learn for themselves."

"If they do learn," a milk van muttered.

Later on, Lily pulled into the sheds for a rest.

"James? Is that you?" she asked.

The mogul began to panic.

"Why are you here? Leave me alone, I beg you!" he shouted.

"James, it's ok, I'm sorry," said Lily. "I was a different engine and…"

"I HAVE A TRAIN TO PULL, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

And James scurried out of the shed. Lily sighed.

Later that afternoon, Thomas and Edward were at Wellsworth doing some shunting.

"You know Edward? I kind of miss Conan. He barely comes by."

"I'm right here!" Conan called.

"For now," joked Thomas. "Say, if you're going to be a father, what would that make me? Some kind of uncle or…"

A whistle interrupted him.

"Help, help!"

Some seconds later, James flew past the station, with his brake blocks on fire! The trucks he'd brought with him were laughing.

"They're pushing me! They're pushing me!" he panted.

"On! On! On!" laughed the trucks, as the train disappeared under a bridge. Thomas and Edward could only stare in shock.

"I'd sure like to teach those trucks a lesson!" said Thomas the Tank Engine.

At that moment, the alarm started ringing.

"James is off the line! The Breakdown Train, quickly!"

Thomas wasted no time and coupled up to the cranes.

"Wake up! Wake up! Emergency!"

Judy and Jerome awoke with vigour, and were ready for action! The workmen piled into the coach and the E2 set off.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he puffed, and this time he wasn't pretending to be like Gordon: he really meant it. "Oh, bother those trucks and their tricks, I hope that engine isn't hurt!"

James and the trucks lay in a field, at a bend in the line. The brake van and the last few trucks were on the rails, but the front ones were piled in a heap. A cow was staring at the engine, while his driver and fireman looked all over to see if he was hurt.

"Never mind, James," they said, "it wasn't your fault. It's those old wooden brakes you have: we always said they were no good."

Thomas pushed the cranes alongside, then went to move away the unhurt trucks, bumping them furiously.

"Oh dear, oh dear!" groaned the trucks. "Don't hurt us, don't hurt us!"

"Serves you right! Serves you right!" huffed Thomas. All afternoon, he puffed backwards and forwards, scolding the trucks severely. "This will teach you a lesson, this will teach you a lesson!"

The trucks just groaned in pain as Thomas kept moving them.

When he returned, Judy and Jerome had been hooked up to James with chains.

"Have you got him at the front there, Judy?"

"Yes Jerome, ready to lift!"

"Me too!" called Jerome.

"Let's go!" called Judy, and together, they lifted James back onto the rails.

The mogul tried to move, but he couldn't, so Thomas kindly helped him back to Wellsworth, leaving the damaged trucks in the field.

The Fat Director was waiting anxiously for them.

"I've heard all about it," he said, "and I must say, Thomas, I'm very pleased with you. You're a Really Useful Engine. James shall have some proper brakes, a bit of repair here and there, a new coat of paint, and you, Thomas, shall have a branch line all to yourself."

"Oh, thank you sir!" said Thomas happily.

"You see, I figured you were up for it, that's why I transfered you to Wellsworth. A trial to get you used to branch line service."

Now Thomas is as happy as can be. He has a branch line all to himself, and puffs backwards and forwards with two coaches all day. He's never lonely: for a while, the Coffee Pots would keep him company. At Knapford Junction, Edward and Henry would stop by often and tell him the news. Gordon is always in a hurry, and doesn't stop. However, he never forgets to go, "Poop poop!"

And in return, Thomas always whistles, "Peep peep!"

Of course, Thomas didn't go there alone. Conan and Jewelie decided to move to Ffarquhar, Jewelie becoming Shedmaster at Tidmouth.

As they departed for their new home, Thomas felt he'd finally found a family.