An Outing for James

An Outing for James is a magazine story.

Plot
James and Edward are in the yard. James is feeling fed up about having to deal with the trucks all week and hopes for a passenger run instead. Edward suggests telling The Fat Controller. Coincidentally, The Fat Controller has just arrived and tells James he has a passenger job for him tomorrow. James is very excited.

Next morning, James stops at the station by the school. His driver explains that the schoolchildren are going on an outing to the harbour to learn about boats. As some children are running late, James has to wait a while but soon he begins his journey.

Things are going well until James suddenly feels his brakes stiffen and he grounds to a halt. He soon finds out that one of the children had pulled the emergency cable because his satchel had fallen out the window. James soon arrives at the harbour but he has to stay behind until the children's outing is finished. James ends up very tired on his return journey and that evening, he tells the other engines he wished he had dealt with trucks instead. Thomas laughs but before he can say anything, James falls fast asleep.

Characters

 * Edward
 * James
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Thomas

Trivia

 * The illustration of schoolchildren is reused from Classroom in a Coach but with two of the children wearing different coloured outfits.