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James the Red Engine
James the Red Engine is a fictional character from the British children's books, The Railway Series, created by Wilbert Awdry. He is an anthropomorphic tender locomotive, and is the number 5 engine on the North Western Railway, the Fat Controller's railway on the Island of Sodor, along with Thomas the Tank Engine. He also appears in the television adaptation Thomas & Friends, and other media in the franchise.
James debuted in the 1946 book Thomas the Tank Engine. Two books in the series, James the Red Engine and James and the Diesel Engines, are dedicated to James.
James first appeared in The Railway Series in the 1946 book Thomas the Tank Engine. He was named after James Furze, a friend of the publisher's son. He was originally painted black. At the request of the publishers, Awdry dedicated James the Red Engine to the character. James was painted red in this and subsequent books.[citation needed]
James is based on the L&YR Class 28, an 0-6-0 mixed-traffic tender engine designed by George Hughes and based on the earlier L&YR Class 27 designed by John Aspinall. According to Awdry, the Class 28s were powerful engines but had a tendency to be nose-heavy, especially when used as relief engines on excursion trains and driven at speed. In the book The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, Awdry gave a fictional history of the engine. James was built by Hughes as an experiment to see if the nose-heaviness could be counteracted. The locomotive was fitted with larger 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) driving wheels and a pony truck, making it into a 2-6-0. (The real Class 28 has 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m) wheels.)[better source needed] James is also missing the prominent front sandboxes fitted to the Class 28s.[better source needed] The improvement was not as great as hoped for and after the grouping, the LMS sold James to the Fat Controller's North Western Railway.
Awdry had two models of James on his OO gauge model railway. The first, from the 1950s, was based on a 2-6-0 Glasgow and South Western Railway locomotive, the Austrian Goods, designed by Peter Drummond; this is the design that Awdry had originally intended to use for James. The model was red with yellow lining. Despite being professionally made and "a beautiful model", the motor was unreliable, so it could not be used regularly. Awdry later noted that it was sent away in the 1980s for a new motor and chassis and came back "completely transformed".[better source needed]
Awdry's second model of James was based on a 1960s Tri-ang Johnson 3F 0-6-0; a conversion which Hornby used for the production version of their model of James several decades later.[better source needed]
James the Red Engine was the third book in the Railway Series by Reverend W. Awdry. It picked up where the previous book, Thomas The Tank Engine, left off, as James was introduced in "Thomas & The Breakdown Train", the fourth and final story in Thomas the Tank Engine, where the Troublesome Trucks pushed him into a field after his wooden brake blocks caught fire. James was rescued by Thomas and the Breakdown Train and was repainted red.
Unlike the books, the TV episode "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" had James in his red colour from the beginning. For unknown reasons, James also appeared in all episodes before "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" even though this story established him as being a new engine.
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James the Red Engine
James the Red Engine is a fictional character from the British children's books, The Railway Series, created by Wilbert Awdry. He is an anthropomorphic tender locomotive, and is the number 5 engine on the North Western Railway, the Fat Controller's railway on the Island of Sodor, along with Thomas the Tank Engine. He also appears in the television adaptation Thomas & Friends, and other media in the franchise.
James debuted in the 1946 book Thomas the Tank Engine. Two books in the series, James the Red Engine and James and the Diesel Engines, are dedicated to James.
James first appeared in The Railway Series in the 1946 book Thomas the Tank Engine. He was named after James Furze, a friend of the publisher's son. He was originally painted black. At the request of the publishers, Awdry dedicated James the Red Engine to the character. James was painted red in this and subsequent books.[citation needed]
James is based on the L&YR Class 28, an 0-6-0 mixed-traffic tender engine designed by George Hughes and based on the earlier L&YR Class 27 designed by John Aspinall. According to Awdry, the Class 28s were powerful engines but had a tendency to be nose-heavy, especially when used as relief engines on excursion trains and driven at speed. In the book The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, Awdry gave a fictional history of the engine. James was built by Hughes as an experiment to see if the nose-heaviness could be counteracted. The locomotive was fitted with larger 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) driving wheels and a pony truck, making it into a 2-6-0. (The real Class 28 has 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m) wheels.)[better source needed] James is also missing the prominent front sandboxes fitted to the Class 28s.[better source needed] The improvement was not as great as hoped for and after the grouping, the LMS sold James to the Fat Controller's North Western Railway.
Awdry had two models of James on his OO gauge model railway. The first, from the 1950s, was based on a 2-6-0 Glasgow and South Western Railway locomotive, the Austrian Goods, designed by Peter Drummond; this is the design that Awdry had originally intended to use for James. The model was red with yellow lining. Despite being professionally made and "a beautiful model", the motor was unreliable, so it could not be used regularly. Awdry later noted that it was sent away in the 1980s for a new motor and chassis and came back "completely transformed".[better source needed]
Awdry's second model of James was based on a 1960s Tri-ang Johnson 3F 0-6-0; a conversion which Hornby used for the production version of their model of James several decades later.[better source needed]
James the Red Engine was the third book in the Railway Series by Reverend W. Awdry. It picked up where the previous book, Thomas The Tank Engine, left off, as James was introduced in "Thomas & The Breakdown Train", the fourth and final story in Thomas the Tank Engine, where the Troublesome Trucks pushed him into a field after his wooden brake blocks caught fire. James was rescued by Thomas and the Breakdown Train and was repainted red.
Unlike the books, the TV episode "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" had James in his red colour from the beginning. For unknown reasons, James also appeared in all episodes before "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" even though this story established him as being a new engine.