James

James is a mixed-traffic tender engine who works on the North Western Railway, usually working along the The Main Line. He can be vain and sometimes boastful, but means well and is a hard worker.

Biography
James was designed by George Hughes and built by Horwich Works in 1912/13. He was designed as an experiment of the Class 28 locomotives, with a front pony truck installed at the front and 5'6” sized driving wheels instead of the class' usual 5'1”; these were added in an attempt to cure the “nose-diving” the class experienced when travelling at high speed. The experiment did not entirely produce the results hoped for and after the Grouping James was sold to the North Western Railway. However, when he first arrived on the Island of Sodor, James was damaged in a crash after his trucks pushed him down the line and his wooden brake blocks caught on fire. After being recovered from the wreck, James was sent to Crovan's Gate Works, where he was repaired, repainted into a new red livery and gained proper brakes. He presumably gained his Fowler tender around this time too.

James has been through a lot of adventures in the Thomas & Friends Railway Series and the Thomas & Fiends TV Series with all of his engine and human friends. These are the adventures  that James has been in, The Great Trackmaster Adventures of Thomas & Friends .

Personality
James is very proud of his splendid red paintwork. He dislikes pulling trucks and believes that he should only pull coaches. He thinks himself superior to the others and can be shallow, boastful, overconfident, naughty and vain, particularly to those who appear old-fashioned, weak, slow or dirty. This has caused him to have somewhat of a rivalry with Edward, Percy, Toby and Duck. He has acted like this, even before he was repainted red. However, on a number of occasions, he has found himself in need of help from those whom he has insulted and is, in the end, apologetic. James has also been portrayed as a prankster, often tricking or scaring the other engines for fun or to get out of jobs he dislikes doing. Despite all of that, James has shown a caring side, is normally hard-working and like everyone else, wants to be responsible, reliable and really useful on Sir Topham Hatt's railway.

Basis
James is based on the L&YR Class 28, a class of 0-6-0 mixed-traffic tender locomotive designed by George Hughes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and built by Horwich Works between 1909 and 1912. It was a rebuild of Aspinall's Class 27, with the addition of a Belpaire firebox, a Schmidt/"twin-plug" superheater and the extension of the footplate and front sandboxes.

Livery
James is painted in NWR red with black lining and gold boiler bands. His dome is brass and his number is painted on the sides of his tender in yellow with black lining. Originaly James was painted black with yellow and red lining.