James Works it Out

"James is silly, James is slow! James has got us stuck in snow!"

- A truck taunting James

James Works it Out is the twelfth episode of the twelfth series. It is also the 300th episode of Thomas & Friends.

Plot
One wintery day, Thomas, James and Stanley are shunting trucks in the yard to take to Great Waterton. James soon shunts his trucks - which includes Hector - into line when it starts to snow, for which Hector advises that they ask the yard manager for a weather report. James, however, dislikes being told what to do by a truck and sets off. James soon runs into Harold who tells him that bad weather is ahead, but he still refuses to listen to Hector's advice that they go through Henry's Tunnel and instead decides to take a short cut through Shen Valley. Unfortunately, the snow is so thick that James can't see where he's going and accidently goes through the snowy hills.

When Edward sees James, Edward informs him that it will be hard to shunt his train up the hill and that he's cleared snow from lots of lines. Seeing that Edward can help them, Hector attempts to advise that they have him come with them. However, James is still adamant that he knows best and they head off on their own. It's very heavy work going up the hill, but they're able to get to the top and go fast down the other side. When Hector sees that there's a snowslide at the bottom, he tries to tell James that they should go quickly down the hill, but James still believes he knows best, breaks hard at the bottom and they get stuck.

Now seeing that Hector was right, James asks him for advice and he tells James to go back up the hill and charge down to get through the snowslide. They get through and James congratulates Hector for his good advice. Together, James and Hector are able to get through the snow and into Great Waterton where Thomas and Stanley are already waiting. James tells them that Hector helped him and states how glad he is to take advice from a good truck, which Hector is very proud of.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * James
 * Stanley
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Hector
 * Harold
 * Henry

Locations

 * Knapford Yards
 * Great Waterton
 * The Water Works
 * Shen Valley
 * Henry's Tunnel

Trivia

 * In the US dub, Hector gains a Spanish accent and no longer has a deep voice.
 * This episode marks:
 * Stanley's first appearance in an episode.
 * Hector's last appearance.
 * Harold's last appearance until Misty Island Rescue, his last full appearance in an episode until the fourteenth series episode, Merry Misty Island, and his last appearance in the model series.
 * The last episode where James is seen with his concerned face.
 * The Ket Programming website says that this episode, along with the twelfth series episode, Tram Trouble, aired on 5th December 2009, but that could have somewhere around the time when this aired on Nick Jr. UK.
 * This episode aired before the eleventh series episode, Hector the Horrid! in Australia, so the audience would not know who Hector is.
 * This episode aired on Milkshake! before The Great Discovery premiered in the UK, so the audience may have not known who Stanley or what Great Waterton are.
 * This is the only episode of the series to be a hundredth one (in this case, the 300th episode) in both chronological and production order.

Goofs

 * When James meets Harold at a signal, he does not appear to be coupled to Hector as the trucks continue moving for about a second after James stops.
 * When James reaches the top of Gordon's Hill, his wheels stop moving.
 * When James applies his brakes going downhill, he does not appear to have a crew in his cab.
 * When the trucks hit the snowdrift, some of them derail.
 * When James pushes Hector up to the trucks, the one in front of Hector has a face, but when James is seen pushing the train along the line, this truck is missing its face. The truck regains its face after James crashes into the snow, then once again loses it when they clear the snow bank.
 * When Hector tells James to start rolling down the hill, the latter is already starting to move before the former tells him to do so.
 * The TrackMaster set said this episode can be found in the Railway Friends DVD, but that episode is not featured on that release.
 * In the German dub of this episode, Stanley is mistakenly referred as Salty in one scene.
 * After James biffs his trucks into line, a steam platform is visible when he backs up.

Merchandise

 * Take Along
 * TrackMaster
 * Magazine Stories - James Works it Out

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * The Complete Series 12
 * The Best of James

DVD Boxsets

 * The Best of Friends

US/CAN/ZA/LATAM

 * Team Up With Thomas

US DVD Boxsets

 * Adventure Pack
 * Full Steam Ahead

AUS

 * The Party Surprise
 * The Complete Series 12

DVD Boxsets

 * The Essential Collection

MYS

 * Saved You and Other Adventures
 * The Party Surprise and Other Adventures

FRA

 * A New Arrival

THA

 * The Party Surprise

JPN

 * Unaired Video Collection

KOR

 * Thomas the Little Engine and Friends Season 7 Vol. 2

TWN

 * Thomas Puts the Brakes

HK
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 44

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