Thomas the Tank Engine Information

James the Red Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tender locomotive from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. James is engine number 5. His nickname is "The Red Engine". He has a 2-6-0 or mogul wheel arrangement and is a mixed-traffic engine, which means he can pull coaches and trucks. In The Railway Series books, book number three is dedicated to James. In the stories, James crashed on his first day into a field. It was blamed on the wooden brake blocks he was given. James has a reputation for being naughty. Some of the incidents include breaking a coach coupling and needing a passenger's bootlace, crashing into tar wagons, pulling Gordon's coaches without his permission and showing off his new coat of paint while not doing work, only to end up getting covered in coal by the Troublesome Trucks. Despite his behaviour, James is an engine proud of his red paint and is considered to be a really useful engine. He is one of the few engines allowed to pull Gordon's Express when the big engine is away.

He is very proud of his red paint and shining brass dome, and so likes to stay clean. He hates pulling trucks, and believes that he should only be used to pull coaches. He thinks himself superior to the other engines, and can be shallow, boastful and arrogant- particularly to those engines who appear old-fashioned, weak, slow or dirty. However, on a number of occasions he has found himself forced to accept help from those he has insulted, and is ultimately apologetic.

James is one of the few characters to have their own song (James The Really Splendid Engine), the chorus of which is based on his theme music used in the early seasons.

In the Railway Series, James was for a long time one of the last engines to retain a prejudice against diesels. However, he was forced to admit in the book 'James and the Diesel Engines' that there was nothing wrong with diesels as a whole, and this appears to be one of the few lessons that has stuck.

Trivia

In the Railway Series, James's whistle valve is in front of his cab on his boiler.

In the TV show, the valve is turned on its side and attached to a brass pipe, which in turn is connected to the cab roof.

In the TV Series, James makes a large number of cameos before his actual debut story.

In the Railway Series, James was painted black before his accident and was given his red coat to cheer him up.

James is one of the few engines who have felt facial pain, by being stung in 'Buzz Buzz'

Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional engine. He is blue, and has an 0-6-0 wheel arrangement based on a LBSCR E2 Steam Engine. He lives on the fictional Island of Sodor, and is locomotive number 1 on the Sodor Railways. He is the star of his own television series . The blue engine first appeared in the 1940s, when stories about him were published in The Railway Series by Reverend W.V. Awdry. Now he is the most well known fictional locomotive in the world.

Other fun Information

He has two coaches, Annie and Clarabel, and his own branch line.
His favorite saying is "Bust my Buffers" and when he is really angry, "Bust my Boiler".
Sir Topham Hatt calls him a "Really useful engine".
The #1 blue engine hates snowplows.

Adventures

The first episode of the television series and features a cheeky tank engine. He teases Gordon for being too slow and lazy. Gordon plots to revenge on the cheeky blue locomotive. On a morning when cheeky locomotive was ill, Gordon takes revenge and the famous blue locomotive is forced to go the journey at high speed and at the end of the line Gordon laughs. The #1 blue locomotive is faced with a long slow ride home for his foolishness.

Other adventures cause him to:

Have trouble with trucks.
Rescue James
Get fish in his boiler.
Get stuck in snowdrifts.
Race with Bertie the Bus. Fall down a mine.
Rescue Mrs Kyndley.
Go on a runaway.
Get covered in coal.
"Go to breakfast" at the stationmaster's house
Get scared by a "Ghost".
Get caught in a snowdrift again while bringing the christmas tree.
Help with the post train.
Get "bumped".
Meet the "bluebell" engine, Stepney.
Go faster than Gordon, with the help of a jet engine.
Help deliver items to the ice cream factory instead of taking children to the beach.
And many other adventures...

The Reverend W. V. Awdry OBE (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author.

Wilbert Vere Awdry was born in Romsey, Hampshire in 1911. The son of a clergyman, he was himself ordained to the Anglican priesthood in 1936. In 1938 he married Margaret Wale, and two years later took a parish in King's Norton, Birmingham.

The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1942 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Wilbert stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added a further 14 books to the series.

Wilbert's enthusiasm for railways did not stop at his publications. He was involved in railway preservation, and built model railways which he took to exhibitions around the country. He retired from the clergy in 1965, and moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire. In 1996 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He died peacefully at his home on 21 March 1997, at the age of 85.

Last updated June 30, 2008

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