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- “I'm a really splendid engine.”
- ― James
James and the Coaches, retitled James Learns a Lesson on North American releases, is the eighth episode of the first series. It is based on the stories James and the Top Hat and James and the Bootlace from The Railway Series book James the Red Engine.
Plot
James is settling into his new life on the Island of Sodor quite nicely. The Fat Controller tells him that as a mixed traffic engine, he can take coaches and trucks easily but must learn from his mistakes. Remembering a nasty accident with trucks on his first day, James knows just what the Fat Controller means by that.
James' first job of the day is to double-head a passenger train with Edward, who warns him not to bump the coaches. People have arrived on the platform to admire James, who gets overexcited and lets off steam without warning, causing a shower of water to fall on the Fat Controller's brand-new top hat. Fearing he may be in trouble and since it is time for the train to leave, James tries to get out as fast as he can, which bothers Edward and the coaches. This causes trouble at the first station stop where two of the coaches overrun the platform, forcing the train to reverse to let off passengers. However, it seems that no one else knows what happened with the Fat Controller's hat, to James' relief.
Next, James and Edward stop at the Junction on Thomas' new branch line where the tank engine greets them before leaving. The train later passes the field from James' accident which is now cleaned up. Finally, the journey ends and, after unloading the passengers, the two engines start home, with James still wondering what the Fat Controller will have to say about his top hat.
The next morning, the Fat Controller visits James in the shed and threatens to have him painted blue unless he behaves. The thought of losing his red coat infuriates James and he takes his anger out on the coaches, bumping them hard while bringing them to the platform. He grumbles about having to fetch them on his own, unlike Gordon. To make matters worse for James, no one dares go near him, making him angrier.
James pulls the coaches very roughly and runs too fast for comfort and, before long, they force him to stop. The driver determines that James' rough treatment has caused a leak in a coach's brake pipe and his only recommendation is patching the leak with newspaper and a leather bootlace. Since none of the crew have any bootlaces, the guard proceeds to ask each of the passengers and at last finds a man with a leather bootlace, who refuses to give it up. The guard explains that the train cannot continue without the repair, making the other passengers very cross at both the railway and the man for stranding them. Under pressure, the man relents and hands his bootlaces over. The damage is temporarily repaired and James, knowing that he is going to be in big trouble with the Fat Controller, makes sure to never bump coaches again as he carefully finishes his journey.
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- James
- Green Express Coaches
- Orange Branchline Coaches
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Jeremiah Jobling (not named)
- Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
- Troublesome Trucks (do not speak)
- Märklin Engine (cameo)
- Stephen Hatt (cameo)
- The Little Boys (cameos)
- Lady Hatt (cameo)
- Gordon (mentioned)
Locations
- Rail Under Road Bridge and Stone Wall
- Knapford
- Dryaw
- Elsbridge
- The Cow Field
- Gordon's Hill
- Maron
- Tidmouth Sheds
- The Goat Field
- Henry's Tunnel
Trivia
- George Carlin's dub of this episode was not available on home video until 5 March 2002, when it was released on the Best of James VHS and DVD.
- This episode marks the first of a few things:
- James' first leading role.
- The first appearances of James' smiling and angry faces.
- The first episode in which Henry and Gordon do not appear, although Gordon is mentioned by James at one point.
- This is the last episode with a few things:
- The last appearance of Henry's Tunnel until the fourth series episode Henry and the Elephant, excluding a deleted scene from Bowled Out and a mention in the second series episode Percy Takes the Plunge.
- The last episode in Japan to feature Edward's original nameboard at the end.
- The last episode in which The Terrahawks introduced for the series. Bonnie Langford then took over on 5 November 1984 before introducing all constituent programs, starting with Troublesome Trucks and James and the Express on 6 November.
- After the narrator says "James was still wondering what the Fat Controller would have to say about his top hat," the sound of James' whistle is the same as used in Thomas and the Trucks when the Fat Controller asks Thomas what he is doing at Maron Station.
- The events of this episode were later referenced by James in the twenty-second series episode An Engine of Many Colours and in the next episode.
- The events of this episode were later mentioned by Henry and Gordon in James and the Express.
- The unspecified Märklin engine can be seen at the start of the episode behind Edward at Knapford Station.
- The guard in this episode has a beard that strongly resembles Ringo Starr's.
- On the DVD release of James Learns a Lesson and Other Thomas Adventures, the last few seconds of the episode are cut.
- When the events of the previous episode are mentioned, edited and extended stock footage is used to flashback to it.
- The first part of the episode, up until Edward backs into the station, is taken from a lower-quality master in the restored version.
Goofs
- Clarabel is facing the wrong way when Thomas leaves the junction.
- When James is getting his branch line coaches ready, the brake one is the second in the train. When James gets the fifth coach, the brake one is in the middle and has been turned around. When James leaves Knapford, the brake coach is again the second one in the train and has also been turned around.
- The goods shed side of Knapford is incorrectly assembled during the shot of the coaches at the platform; the two M-shaped concrete pillar sections are also directly up against each other without the intermediate horizontal member.
- James' fireman is blond in the beginning but, when his crew wonder how to fix the leak in the pipe, they all have dark hair.
- In the first close-up of the Fat Controller, ink is visible on his right hand.
- When James leaves after the leather bootlace incident, James' puffing sounds are exactly the same but James' speed changes.
- In the close-up of James' driver and fireman inside his cab, the hill beside James is nowhere to be seen.
- The last two coaches in line on James' train are Annie and Clarabel.
- When James and Edward finish their journey, their tenders are crooked a bit.
- Edward's eyes jolt a bit when James assembles the train.
- James' left eye jolts forward a bit after his driver states to ask the passengers for a bootlace.
- Some small scale figurines have sticky tac under their feet.
- When the passengers argue, some of the coaches roofs are damaged.
- Jeremiah Jobling's hat has chips, on the crown shape and the brim. It also changes from tan to dark brown between large scale and small scale model.
- When James and Edward overshoot the first station, the first coach moves back a bit after they stop.
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
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Magazine Story
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Home Video Releases
Episode
References
| #01 Thomas and Gordon | #10 James and the Express | #19 The Flying Kipper |
| #02 Edward and Gordon | #11 Thomas and the Guard | #20 Whistles and Sneezes |
| #03 The Sad Story of Henry | #12 Thomas Goes Fishing | #21 Toby and the Stout Gentleman |
| #04 Edward, Gordon and Henry | #13 Thomas, Terence and the Snow | #22 Thomas in Trouble |
| #05 Thomas' Train | #14 Thomas and Bertie | #23 Dirty Objects |
| #06 Thomas and the Trucks | #15 Tenders and Turntables | #24 Off the Rails |
| #07 Thomas and the Breakdown Train | #16 Trouble in the Shed | #25 Down the Mine |
| #08 James and the Coaches | #17 Percy Runs Away | #26 Thomas' Christmas Party |
| #09 Troublesome Trucks | #18 Coal | |