I do not own Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. They are strictly the property of both the Awdry Family and Britt Allcroft, this story is purely for entertainment.
Episode 10: James and the Express, Original Airdate: 6th November 1984
It was a warm sunny Saturday afternoon on the Island of Sodor. People were out and about enjoying the lovely weather, going either on walks with their dogs or friends or taking their children to the playground.
In the village of Ffarquhar Thomas was doing such a thing. He had taken Lucy to the local playground in the park, she was sitting on one of the safety swings as he pushed her in it. Lucy laughed happily as she was pushed.
"Higher daddy higher" said Lucy happily.
"You want to go loop the loop, Lucy?" asked Thomas.
"Loop the loop daddy" replied Lucy.
Thomas smiled as he gave Lucy another push. It was seeing his daughter like this that brought back memories of his dad pushing on the swing when he was her age, later it would be both him and Lady pushing Lucy. As he pushed her, he saw Henry, Gordon, and James or as the Knapford Three as they were called were walking by. The three of them then noticed him and Lucy and decided to walk over to them.
"Hello guys" called Thomas to his friends as they turned and noticed both him and Lucy.
"Hello Thomas" greeted James,
"And hello to you too little Lucy" said Gordon.
"You going to say hello to Uncle James, Uncle Henry and Uncle Gordon?" Thomas asked his daughter as he took out of the swing seat.
"Hello Uncle James, hello Uncle Gordon, Hello Uncle Henry" said Lucy happily.
Gordon, Henry, and James smiled at their little honorary nieces. Gordon then put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a Cadbury's Double Choc bar and handed it to Lucy, who took it and let Thomas unwrap it for her. Soon she was eating the treat that Gordon had given her happily.
"What are you too doing here today?" asked James.
"We were both just passing the time until the barbeque begins" said Thomas.
"That's right your parents are having one today" said Gordon.
"Later this afternoon" said Thomas, "you two are more then welcome to come if you wish?".
Gordon, Henry, and James looked at each other, they both had nothing else t
"Sure, why not" smiled Henry, "the three of us actually have nothing else to do".
Thomas smiled at his three friends as they all left the playground and headed the Billinton house. As they walked towards Thomas and his family's home, they wondered how many were going to be at the barbeque.
"Say Thomas who did your parents invite to the barbeque?" asked James.
"Well, they invited Sir Topham Hatt, Lady Hatt, Edward, Toby, Henrietta, Mavis and Bertie of course" said Thomas.
"Are Percy and Daisy not going?" asked Henry.
"No, they've both gone to Wales Daisy's grandmother has just died" replied Thomas.
"Ding Dong the witch is dead" sang Gordon.
"Which old witch?" sang James to Gordon.
"The wicked witch" sang back Gordon.
"Alright you too that's enough" said Henry sternly, "we all know that Daisy's granny was a horrible woman, but we at least should feel a bit of sympathy for her".
Gordon and James then both went silent. Soon they had all arrived at Thomas' house and went in, they went through the house to the garden where they saw Howard preparing the barbeque with Edward and Sir Topham Hatt. He had a selection of meets which included steak, hotdogs, and burgers with a pile of burger buns and hotdog rolls on plates to the side. Howard and Sir Topham Hatt both saw Thomas coming into the garden with Henry, Gordon and James and smiled.
"Ah young Thomas" boomed Sir Topham Hatt, "your father and I see that you have brought more company to the party".
"That we did Sir" smiled Thomas.
"How long till the foods ready Howard?" asked Gordon.
"It won't be for a short while" said Howard, "but if you want then you lot can wait in the sitting room and Thomas could tell you one of his stories".
Thomas gave a smile at his father's suggestion.
"That sounds like a great idea dad" said Thomas.
Thomas, Henry, Gordon, James, and Lucy went into the sitting room and sat down on the two sofas that were in the sitting. As they sat down Sir Topham Hatt then entered the room.
"Is everything okay Sir?" asked Thomas
"I'm wondering if I could listen to your story too?" asked Sir Topham Hatt, "little Lucy here has told me about them, and I decided why not".
"Your more then welcome to listen in Sir" said Thomas as Sir Topham Hatt on the sofa with Thomas and Lucy.
"So what story are you going to tell young Thomas?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.
"How about the one where I pulled the express for the first time?" asked James.
"Daddy tell story, daddy tell story" clapped Lucy excitedly.
Thomas then smiled his daughter before clearing his throat and beginning.
(Story Begins)
One night James was alone at Tidmouth bunkhouse with Gordon and Henry. It had been a week since he had pulled a goods train and had gotten back on Sir Topham Hatt's good graces, Gordon and Henry however still teased him about the time that he needed bootlaces to repair one of his coaches after he had gone too fast and had made a hole in it.
"Do you remember the time that you once needed bootlaces to get yourself out of trouble little James" said Gordon teased.
"And that he even let his trucks break away from his train" teased Henry as well.
James was getting tired of their teasing, so he decided to come up with a comeback.
"Well, I seen to recall an engine who got himself stuck on a hill because he had to pull a goods train" James told Gordon before turning to Henry "and you Henry, I seem to recall a driver who stopped in the tunnel all because he was afraid of the rain".
Unfortunately for James this did little to shut both Gordon and Henry up.
"You talk too much little James" Gordon then said pompously.
Just then the three locomotive drivers heard a knock on the door to the bunkhouse.
"Get that for us please James, our Domino's is here" asked Henry.
James got up and went to answer the pizza delivery man who handed him the pizzas, sides, desserts, and drinks. Soon the three drivers were sitting at the table eating their dinner, James had a Pepperoni Passion with Chicken Kickers, a Ben & Jerry's, and a Coca-Cola, Gordon had a Full House with Garlic Dippers, Cookies, and a Fanta whilst James had a Texas BBQ with Chicken Wings, Cookies, and a Diet Coke.
"An engine driver who drives a strong engine like mine is worth talking about" said Gordon as the trio ate their dinner.
"Why's that Gordon?" asked James eating a slice of pizza.
"My engine is the only one strong enough to pull the express, when I'm not around they need too engines to pull it" said Gordon grandly, "I've done it for years and have never even once lost my way, I seem to know the right line by instinct".
What every wise engine driver knew was that it was actually the signalmen and signalwomen who worked the points that made the engines go the right lines. If they did not then the trains would get to where they were supposed to go, but of course Gordon was too proud to remember that. The three drivers finished their dinners before turning in the for the night.
The next morning James was still asleep in the bunkbed, he had the bottom bunk whilst Gordon had the top. Just then he was woken by a balloon being popped.
"AAAHHH" screamed James sitting up suddenly and bumping his head.
"Wake it little James" said Gordon who was the one who popped the balloon.
"What did you do that for Gordon" grumbled James as he rubbed his head.
"Its nearly time for the express and what else are you doing today odd jobs is it?" asked Gordon before he shrugged it off, "never mind we've all got to start somewhere, now run along now please and find me my coaches and don't be late".
Gordon then left the bedroom as James flipped him the bird. After getting dressed and having a quick breakfast James got his engine ready and went to get Gordon's coaches ready. He found four green express coaches, they were all shining with lovely new paint. James brought them to the platform where the stewards and stewardesses boarded first as the passengers had not yet arrived.
"Looking forward to your day out?" James asked one of the stewardesses.
"We are, thank you James" replied the stewardess to James' kind words.
"As long as Gordon keeps his boasting to a minimum" said a steward.
As the stewards and stewardesses boarded the coaches, James watched dreamily.
"I wish my engine was the one taking the express today" James said to a steward, "I would love to go flying down the line with the wind in my face and the passengers cheering me on".
"That would be nice instead of Gordon for a change, you certainly deserve it" the steward said kindly as he boarded the train.
Soon the passengers started arriving began boarding the coaches. Sir Topham Hatt was also going on the train along with Chairman Ringo Starr of the North Western Railway Board, they were showing a group of important people the railway in ordering to obtain investments on improving the railway. Soon Gordon arrived at Knapford Station, he slowly buffered but to the coaches and hoped down from the cap so that he could couple the coaches to his engine.
Once he had done that, he hopped back into his engines cab and waited for the guard to blow his whistle. A few minutes later the guard did so and slowly his engine began to buff out of the station.
"Poop, poop, poop! Goodbye little James see you tomorrow" he called from his cab as his engine and the express puffed out of the station and onto the mainline.
Once Gordon has gone James went back to work. He then spent the rest of the morning arranging the trucks in yard into their proper places, some into the sidings and some into goods trains. It took him most of the morning and soon he was done.
"Boy thirsty work this is" James said to himself as he had a drink of water and then filled up his engines tank.
Once his engines water was topped up, he went back to his shunting. Ten minutes later he had brought five orange express coaches to the platform for Lady to take out later when he heard a mournful whistle. He turned too much to his surprise, he saw Gordon puffing back into the station trying not to be noticed but to no avail. Angry passengers got out of the coaches and Gordon hopped down from his A1's cab with an embarrassed look on his face. Amused James decided to see what the situation was.
"Hello Gordon, is it tomorrow already?" asked James teasingly.
Gordon did not answer, he just looked at James with embarrassed look on his face.
"Did you lose your way Gordon?" James asked.
"No" said Gordon finally speaking, "it was lost for me, I was snitched off the mainline onto the loop and had to go all the way around and back here".
"Perhaps it was instinct" smirked James as Gordon turned away from him with embarrassment.
Meanwhile the passengers swarmed angrily to the booking office.
"We want our money back" demanded a black male passenger angrily.
"This is a bad railway," said an angry male passenger.
"That stupid locomotive driver ruined our trip" snapped a female passenger.
Sir Topham Hatt who was watching the angry passengers climbed onto a luggage trolley with a whistle given to him by the guard. He then blew it loudly which made the passengers stop shouting.
"Alright everyone I know that your upset with the train losing its way" said Sir Topham Hatt.
"You can say that again" said a red haired female passenger.
Sir Topham Hatt ignored her before continuing.
"Now its obvious that Gordon can't pull the train" said Sir Topham Hatt as Gordon looked down at his feet, "however I promise that I will find a new engine to pull the express".
Sir Topham Hatt then saw James looking at him, a hopeful look plastered to his face. Sir Topham Hatt then gave him a smile as he knew what James was thinking.
"James" Sir Topham called over to him, "would you like to pull the express?".
James was so happy that could not speak for a few moments. However, he soon broke his silence.
"Oh yes please" said James with excitement.
"Alright then please come over here so that we can couple up your train" Sir Topham Hatt.
After his engine was uncoupled from the express Gordon went into the sidings whilst James backed down his engine onto the coaches and was coupled up. The passengers then got back into the coaches, as did Sir Topham Hatt and Chairman Paul. The guard then blew his whistle and James began to pull out of Knapford.
"Do your best James" called Sir Topham Hatt from the front coach's window.
"I will Sir" called James.
As he puffed out of the station and onto the mainline. Gordon watched from the sidings, wondering if James would do better then he did. Soon James was puffing down the mainline as fast as he could, bridges people and cars all whizzed by as he puffed down the line and over the viaduct. He stopped at every station that the train was scheduled at along the way. He did it so smoothly that Sir Topham Hatt, Chairman Paul, the Passengers, the stewards, and stewardesses were all every impressed with him.
"James is pulling the express very well" said a stewardess.
"And not only that its his first time" replied a steward.
Soon they had reached Maron Station where the train was scheduled to terminate. Sir Topham Hatt, Chairman Paul, the passengers, the stewards, and stewardesses all got out of the coaches and went to thank James who had just hopped down from the cab. Sir Topham Hatt walked up to him and shook his hand.
"You did very well today young James" Sir Topham Hatt told James proudly.
"Thank you Sir" replied James, happy that his boss was pleased with him.
"Would you like to pull the express sometimes?" Sir Topham Hatt then asked James.
"Would I ever" declared James excitedly.
Once he returned to his office at Knapford, Sir Topham Hatt then made arranges so that James could take the express more often. The next morning when James arrived at Knapford to collect the express, he saw Gordon in the shunting yards pushing some trucks. To his surprise Gordon looked like he was enjoying it, Gordon soon came to the platform where James was at.
"Hello Gordon" said James, "you look in a good mood today".
"That I do James" replied Gordon, "I actually do like some quiet work for a change, I'm also teaching the workmen some manners".
"Glad you're enjoying the next arrangements that Sir Topham Hatt made" said James.
"That I do" said Gordon, "And I'm sorry for the way I acted".
"That's alright I forgive you" replied James to Gordon's apology.
Gordon, Henry, and James are now good friends. James sometimes takes the express so that Gordon can have a rest, he never teases James about bootlaces, and they are both quite agreed on the subject of trucks.
(Story Ends)
"That was quite a story young Thomas" said Sir Topham Hatt as Thomas finished his story.
"Well, I'm glad you liked it Sir" smiled Thomas at his boss's comment.
"Say Sir I'm wondering" Gordon asked Sir Topham Hatt, "why was I switched onto the loop?".
"It was a technical fault and unfortunately I had my phone on silent, so I didn't get the signalman's warning" said Sir Topham Hatt.
"Food's ready called Howard.
"Oh boy I'm famished" said James as they all got up and went into the garden to get their food.
"Say Thomas, please tell that Bill and Ben haven't been invited?" asked Gordon in worry.
"Don't worry Gordon" smiled Thomas, "dad and mom both banned them after that little stunt they pulled nearly burnt the house down.
And done. Well I hope that you will all like this chapter, as always please leave a preview and I'll see you all next time.