James and the Queen of Sodor

"Keep your dirt away from me! I'm collecting the mayor today!"

- James

James and the Queen of Sodor is the seventh episode of the seventh season.

Plot
James was bragging that he was to pull the mayor of Sodor and became worse than ever when Percy accidentally sprayed Gordon with mud. When the Fat Controller arrives with news of an important job - transporting the Queen of Sodor - Gordon tricks James into volunteering.

James thinks he has the best job yet, but is horrified to find the so-called "Queen of Sodor" is really a rusty old barge that he must take to the Smelters yard. James, however, is determined not to let Gordon beat him and manages to stay clean throughout the whole journey, even when the barge breaks a pipe full of sludge.

Gordon is amazed to find James without so much as a speck of dust on him afterwards, but then Percy arrives and accidentally scatters rock dust all over James.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Duck (speaks only in the Japanese)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * Oliver (cameo)
 * Mavis (cameo)
 * 'Arry and Bert (cameo)
 * Salty (cameo)
 * Skarloey (cameo)
 * Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
 * Toad (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)
 * The Mayor of Sodor (mentioned)

Locations

 * Brendam
 * Dryaw
 * Rolf's Castle
 * Suddery Castle
 * The Smelter's Yard
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Windmill
 * Crovan's Gate (stock footage)
 * Tidmouth Tunnel (stock footage)
 * The Canal (mentioned)
 * Anopha Quarry (mentioned)
 * The Works (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Stock footage from Oliver Owns Up and Four Little Engines is used, as is mirrored stock footage from James and the Red Balloon.
 * Toad's scrap model from Escape can be seen when James enters the Smelter's Yard.
 * In a rare still, James is in Duck's place at Tidmouth Sheds at the end.

Goofs

 * Percy's whistle was clogged up with stone dust, so stone dust should have sprayed all over Gordon, not mud.
 * When the barge crashes through the pipe, during the facial shots of James, he appears to be beside a cement base supporting the pipes. But in back-end shots, he is several centimetres from the base.
 * After James returns to the sheds, Henry disappears.
 * James displays a lack of common sense in this episode. If someone as important as the Queen of Sodor was visiting, then the engines would have been polished and the stations cleaned, for instance.
 * The barge loses its funnel and cab when it reaches the smelter's shed.
 * In the final scene, both Thomas' and Duck's eyes are wonky.
 * In the Crovan's Gate scene, Annie is facing the wrong way.
 * Sir Topham Hatt says that the Queen of Sodor was at the canal, but it was really at Brendam. Also, Sir Topham says that the Queen of Sodor needed to go to the Works, but James takes it to the Smelter's.
 * When James passes Rolf's Castle, his face is missing.
 * A brakevan should have been added to James' train.
 * Because stock footage is used, Skarloey has his gold stripe around his funnel, Tidmouth Tunnel appears in its original design, and the lake next to the tunnel is bigger.