Billy is one of the youngest engines on the Fat Controller's Railway and one of the friendliest engines you could ever meet. Billy can be grumpy at times, but that is usually from misunderstanding his friends and, because he is young, he can get confused easily and believe things that he probably shouldn't. Luckily, Billy is always happy to own up to his mistakes.

One day, Billy was helping at Brendam Docks when Charlie arrived with a delivery. "Hullo, William!" he called.

"Who's William?" asked Portor.

"That's my real name," grinned Billy.

"That's a big name for a little engine."

"It is. That's why everyone calls me 'Billy'."

Salty rolled up. "Yarrr, then you be very lucky, matey," he said.

"Why," asked Billy.

"I've heard many tales of ships receiving new names, and they say it's bad luck to rename a ship. Those that have can run into lots of trouble; losing their cargo, crashing into rocks or running aground." And Salty rolled away.

Porter chuckled. "Oh, Salty, you and your stories."

But Billy was thinking about what Salty had said. His real name was 'William', not 'Billy', and he had run into trouble before. He never thought it was because of bad luck, but now, he was starting to worry.

Later, Charlie noticed that Billy was unhappy. "What's wrong, Billy?" he asked.

"Nothing," Billy said, quietly. He didn't want to Charlie to think he had bad luck too.

Charlie wanted to help his friend. "Would you like to hear a new joke I heard?"

Billy sighed. "Sorry, Charlie. I don't want to hear any jokes right now." And he puffed away.

Charlie was puzzled. This isn't like Billy at all, he thought.

The next morning, the Fat Controller came to see Billy at Knapford Yard. "Billy, you have been working very well lately."

Billy tried to smile. "Thank you, Sir."

"And now, I have decided it is time you learned how to carry passengers." Billy was surprised; he had never pulled passengers before, but he hoped he would one day. "You will collect your coaches from Wellsworth this afternoon," the Fat Controller added, "but first, I want you to help Mavis at Ffarquhar Quarry."

"Yes, Sir," said Billy. He was excited about pulling his first passenger train, but then, he quickly remembered Salty's story. "I hope everything goes alright," he puffed to himself.

When Billy arrived at the Quarry, Mavis was waiting for him. "Just in time, Billy," she said. "There are a lot of trucks to sort out."

"Yes, Mavis," Billy replied, and set to work.

The trucks were waiting in the sidings. Billy rolled towards them, but he was worrying so much about what Salty said, he wasn't paying attention and biffed the trucks hard. They bashed into each other and bumped into 'Arry. "Silly Billy!" the diesel shouted. "Watch where you're going!"

Billy was surprised. How did that happen? He thought. "Sorry!"

Later, Billy arrived at Wellsworth to collect his passengers who were traveling on Edward's Branch Line. Billy smiled when he saw his passengers, but he was still worried. "I hope I do a good job," he puffed to himself, but Billy wasn't concentrating and bumped the coaches.

"Silly Billy! Be careful," said the Stationmaster.

"Bust my buffers," moaned Billy. "This is going all wrong."

Soon, the Guard blew his whistle and Billy puffed away, but he started too quickly and bumped the coaches. "Be careful!" called the Guard, but Billy was worrying so much that he wasn't listening.

As he puffed along, Billy kept speeding up and slowing down, and he wouldn't puff smoothly. His coaches rattled and rocked, and his passengers were jolted and shaken. Billy was worrying so much that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. As he reached Suddery, he steamed right through the Station.

The Stationmaster ran out with a red flag and blew his whistle. "STOP!" he called, but Billy didn't hear him.

The coaches continued to rattle and shake, and then…they broke away. Billy had shaken the coaches so much, the coupling had snapped. "STOP!" shouted the Guard and the passengers, but Billy steamed on.

Billy didn't know he lost his coaches. "What's going to happen? What am I going to do?" he kept saying to himself.

Billy didn't notice that he had steamed all the way to Brendam Docks. He raced in, not looking where he was going.

"LOOK OUT!" called Cranky, but it was too late. Billy crashed into the loaded trucks, and the trucks bumped into Cranky's load, which fell onto the cargo stacked on the quay, causing Porter to crash into the mess.

Billy was so jolted, he quickly looked around in shock. The trucks were damaged, and shattered crates, broken barrels and fish were everywhere. "Oh, no!" groaned Billy.

"SILLY BILLY!" shouted Cranky. "Now, look what you've done!"

Billy felt sadder than ever, and he never felt so unlucky in his life.

As the mess was being cleared, the Fat Controller arrived with Edward and the last of Billy's passengers. He was very cross. "Billy, you have been causing trouble all day! You biffed the trucks around the Quarry, stranded your passengers and now, you have made a mess of the Docks! What is going on?!"

Billy looked at his buffers. "I guess everyone will call me 'Bad Luck Billy' now."

"What do you mean?" asked Edward.

"My real name is 'Willam,' but everyone calls me 'Billy,' and Salty told me that new names are bad luck. I've made mistakes before, but this is my worst day ever! I really am an unlucky engine."

Salty, who had been listening, spoke up. "Uh, Sir, I think this is partially my fault." And Salty told the Fat Controller what he had said.

It was then that Edward knew what had happened. "Billy, have you been worrying about having bad luck all day?"

"Yes?"

"Billy, when we are working, it is important that we pay attention, so we don't make mistakes," Edward explained. "Besides, Salty tells many stories, but you shouldn't take them too seriously as they are not always as true as they sound."

Salty chuckled. "Aye, that be true, me hearty. Even I leaned to understand a tall tale when I hear it." He looked at Billy and sighed. "I'm sorry for givin' you the wrong idea, Billy. Truth be told, not all renamed ships have bad luck. Usually, it's only a coincidence."

"Coe-what?" asked Billy.

"Coincidence," said Edward. "It means something that happens by chance."

"Aye," Salty agreed.

"The reason you feel you've been having back luck today is because you've been worrying too much about being unlucky," Edward continued, "and like Salty said, not all new names are bad luck. My friends Peter Sam and Sir Handel used to be called Stuart and Falcon, and they don't have bad luck. Percy has an old friend named Gator, but his real name is Gerald. And you know Stephen is also called 'The Rocket'."

Billy felt very foolish. "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble, Sir," he said.

"Me too, Cap'n," added Salty. "I say Billy and I are both to blame." And that was enough to make Billy smile.

The next day, Billy was sent to help at the China Clay Works. Later, he was tested on pulling passengers again, this time, with Edward helping him, and all day, Billy didn't make one mistake.

That evening, Billy was finishing his last job at Brendam Docks when Charlie rolled up. "I'm glad you're back to being your old self…Silly Billy," he chuckled.

Billy smiled back. "Thank you, Charlie. I would rather be a 'Silly Billy' than a 'Bad Luck Billy' any day." And even Cranky had to laugh.