Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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This article is about 'the 1992 magazine story'. You may be looking for 'the 2007 magazine story'.

A Job for James is a magazine story.

Plot

One day, James is begrudgingly shunting in the yard with Thomas and Percy. James' mood soon changes when The Fat Controller tasks him with a special passenger train. The passengers are cricket players from the mainland who will be playing a match against Wellsworth's team.

James then begins to boast to the two tank engines but Thomas and Percy cheekily state to themselves how James is getting too big for his buffers. The Fat Controller then tells James he will ride with him to welcome the visiting team. As James returns from the harbour and heads off towards Wellsworth, he passes through the yard again and makes sure to let Thomas and Percy witness his grandeur. Once at the station, The Fat Controller tells James he can stay behind until the match is over.

James decides he will have a rest during that period of time but, as soon as he shuts his eyes, he is rudely awoken. A batsman had hit the cricket ball very hard, where it flew high into the air and landed right in James' funnel. Thomas and Percy hear about the situation and joke about how trucks would never do such things to an engine.

Characters

Locations

Goofs

  • In the final illustration, James has a small hole in his boiler just below his dome, when the text states that the cricket ball went down his funnel.
  • The first quotation mark is missing from James' final quote.
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