James/Behind the Scenes

In real-life
The Reverend's first model of James was a 2-6-0 Glasgow and South Western Railway locomotive, the "Austrian Goods", designed by Peter Drummond. The Reverend later rejected that prototype on the grounds that an English engine would most likely end up on Sodor. Awdry's second model of James was based on a 1960s Tri-ang "Johnson 3F" 0-6-0; a conversion which Hornby themselves would use for the production version of their model of James, several decades later.

Gauge 1 model
James' Gauge 1 models went through several aesthetic changes:
 * Season 3:
 * His brake pipe now faces downwards.
 * His pupils became smaller.
 * Season 4:
 * His window frames became smaller.
 * His whistle sound changed to Duck's at three whole steps and a half higher in pitch.
 * Season 5:
 * His whistle changed back to how it originally sounded excluding "Horrid Lorry, James and the Trouble with Trees, Baa!, and Make Someone Happy".
 * His brake pipe now faces upwards.
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad:
 * His brake pipe now faces downwards again.
 * The curve on James' cab lining underneath his window became shallower.
 * His pupils became bigger again.
 * Season 6:
 * His safety valve disappeared.
 * Season 8:
 * His eyebrows became longer.
 * Season 9:
 * His eyebrows became thicker.
 * Season 10:
 * His buffers were moved down slightly.
 * The riveting on his front bufferbeam disappeared.
 * His whistle became lower to the cab.
 * His windows became smaller.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. James' model was modified:
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * He increased in size, making the top of his boiler the same height as Gordon's. His cab, funnel and tender were also scaled up accordingly. His Gauge 1 model was originally the same size as Edward however James even points out the fact that he is now bigger than Edward in The Adventure Begins.
 * The curve on James' cab lining became even more shallow.
 * His eyes increased in size.
 * Season 17:
 * He gained permanent lamps on his front and tender.
 * The Adventure Begins:
 * He was painted in his black Railway Series livery and received external brake shoes with wooden blocks added on his rear driving wheels. Following his accident, he still had his brake shoes, but the wood blocks were replaced and he was repainted into his current livery. This change only appeared in this special and briefly in The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor.
 * His brake pipe now faces upwards again.
 * His side rods became silver.

James' Twins
The Mid-Hants Railway repainted a Southern Railway N Class 2-6-0, No. 31874, into the livery of James. The engine retained this colour scheme for many years and participated in the Railway Series Golden Jubilee celebrations at the National Railway Museum. However, following the withdrawal of the N Class in 1998, the Mid-Hants Railway quickly repainted its cousin-engine, a Southern Railway U Class 2-6-0, No. 31625, into James for the 1999 season. After the withdrawal of the U Class, the N Class reprised its role as James, only wearing a face during Thomas events. However, due to the fact that both of these engines were privately owned, they left the Mid-Hants Railway in 2014. For the Mid-Hants Railway's "Steam Railway" supported gala in September 2012, it was decided to repaint N Class No. 31874 in wartime black to carry its Southern identity of No. 1874; this meant that James no longer appears at the Thomas events at the Watercress Line.

However, the repainting of the engine created a stir among railway enthusiasts, who felt that it was wrong to paint a historic main line locomotive in such a garish livery. Nevertheless, the locomotive was popular with the railway's younger visitors.

On the East Lancashire Railway, the unrestored LMS 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46428 has been painted as James, although his face only appears during Day Out with Thomas events.

Voice Actors

 * Michael Angelis ( Thomas and the Magic Railroad ; original workprints only )
 * Susan Roman ( Thomas and the Magic Railroad )
 * Keith Wickham ( UK, Hero of the Rails - twentieth season, excluding Tit for Tat )
 * Kerry Shale ( US, Hero of the Rails - Eighteenth Season )
 * Rob Rackstraw ( US; The Adventure Begins onwards - UK; Tit for Tat onwards )
 * Sébastien Reding ( Thomas and the Magic Railroad )
 * Fabrice Trojani ( France and French speaking Canada; eighth season onwards )
 * Katsuji Mori ( Japan; first - eighth seasons )
 * Masashi Ebara ( Japan; Calling All Engines! Onwards )
 * Helge Winther Larsen ( Norway; Hero of the Rails - Tale of the Brave )
 * Paul Ottar Haga ( Norway; eighteenth season onwards )
 * Simone Crisari ( Italy )
 * Gianluca Crisafi (Italy Season 19 onwards)
 * Uranus Huerta ( Latin America; Thomas and the Magic Railroad )
 * Eduardo Garza ( Latin America; Thomas and the Magic Railroad; TV Version )
 * Mario Castañeda ( Latin America; Hero of the Rails onwards; excluding Over the Hill )
 * Arturo Mercado Jr. ( Latin America; Over the Hill only )
 * Gustavo Carrillo ( Latin America; Hugo and the Airship only; one phrase )
 * Christian Strempler ( Latin America; DC Super Friends ™ San Diego Comic Con Only )
 * Wanja Gerick ( Germany; Thomas and the Magic Railroad )
 * Tobias Schmidt ( Germany, Audio Books and Hero of the Rails onwards, excluding Day of the Diesels )
 * Waldemar Barwiński ( Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards )
 * Jeremy Luton ( The Netherlands )
 * Asaf Corman ( Israel; Thomas and the Magic Railroad )
 * Gadi Levy ( Israel, 15th season onwards, except Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure )
 * Gilan Shachaf ( Israel's Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure only )
 * Troells Toya ( Denmark )
 * Fabio de Castro ( Brazil, Hero of the Rails onwards, season 15 only)
 * Lucas Gama ( Brazil, seventeenth season onwards, excluding Tale of the Brave )
 * Ulisses Bezerra ( Brazil; Tale of the Brave only )
 * Jorge Teixeira ( Spain )
 * Petri Hanttu ( Finland; Hero of the Rails onwards )
 * Gyurik Istvan ( Hungary )
 * Martin Geraskov (  Bulgarian Hero of the Rails onwards)
 * Olga Kuznetsova ( Russia, Hero of the Rails onwards, except Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure )
 * Anton Savenkov (  Russia, The Great Race onwards)
 * Um Sang-hyun ( South Korea )
 * Roger Storm (Sweden; Hero of the Rails onwards)
 * Haris Grigoropoulos ( Greece; first - fourteenth seasons )
 * Loukas Frangoulis ( Greece; King of the Railway onwards )
 * Gyurik Istvan ( Hungary )