James the Super Engine

"I wonder if I have superpowers too?" "Who knows, James? Maybe you do." "Just think. Me, the world's first super engine!"

- James and Rebecca

James the Super Engine is the eighth episode of the twenty-fourth series.

Plot
One day, James arrives at Vicarstown and meets the children cheering at their new comic book. They show James the superhero in the comic book and tell him that he wears a red cape and can fly at supersonic speed. James thinks he can fly at supersonic speed and become a superhero. When James leaves the station, he dreams the Sodor Suspension Bridge has collapsed and Rebecca falls off the tracks, and James comes to her rescue as a superhero.

As James stops at Maron, oil drums splatted all over James' face by Rocky. When James looks at himself at the Fenland Track so he can see himself in the water, he decides to become the Rail Rocket.

Meanwhile, at Brendam Docks, Percy is struggling with so many trucks to pull. Salty arrives to see him pulling a lot of trucks, as Percy manages to set off.

Later, James hears the children calling, and he sees the children from a kite stuck in a tree. Then he blows steam in his funnel to blow the kite off the tree. The children save their kite. Then James hears a bell from the crossing, only to find it came from goats. James now starts feeling very sad and gives up by saying he will "return to his normal life when there's no danger on the railway."

That evening, when Rebecca arrives at the coal hopper, Percy comes by with the runaway trucks and then derails with the coal trucks. Then one of the trucks crashes into the coal hopper, which is about to tip over Rebecca. Later, as James sadly arrives at the washdown to get cleaned up, Rebecca calls over from James to help. James rushes to rescue Rebecca from the coal hopper tipping and saves Rebecca from the coal hopper tipping over. Then Percy sees that James is a rail rocket.

That night, Percy tells the other engines at Tidmouth Sheds that James burst through the coal hopper and pushed Rebecca to safety. Then James arrives back at Tidmouth Sheds, and Percy tells him that he was called "Rail Rocket."

Characters

 * James
 * Percy
 * Nia
 * Rebecca
 * Salty
 * Rocky
 * Stephen Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Emily
 * Rosie
 * Connor
 * Cranky
 * Big Mickey
 * Carly
 * Willie
 * The Teacher
 * The Bird Watcher
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * The Lady with the Big Hat
 * Albert's Wife

Locations

 * Vicarstown
 * Maron
 * The Fenland Track
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Brendam Warehouse
 * The Apple Orchard
 * Crosby Washdown
 * The Coal Hopper
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Sodor Suspension Bridge

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Rob Rackstraw as James
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca and Some Children
 * Keith Wickham as Salty
 * Matt Wilkinson as Rocky
 * Teresa Gallagher as Stephen Hatt and Bridget Hatt
 * Nicola Stapleton as Some Children

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Rob Rackstraw as James
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * Yvonne Grundy as Nia
 * Rachael Miller as Rebecca and Some Children
 * Keith Wickham as Salty
 * William Hope as Rocky
 * Teresa Gallagher as Stephen Hatt and Bridget Hatt
 * Nicola Stapleton as Some Children

Trivia

 * This episode, along with Thomas and the Inventor's Workshop were the first two episodes from the twenty-fourth series to be leaked.
 * The model for the broken Suspension Bridge during the fantasy sequence is reused from the episode Slow Stephen.
 * According to the audio track in an animation reel by animator Gemal Plummer, James was originally going to refer to himself as "Red Rocket," however this was later changed to "Rail Rocket."
 * This is the first episode written by David Stoten.
 * The marks the only with several things:
 * Connor's only appearance in a regular-length episode since the twentieth series episode, Cautious Connor, thus making this the last occurrence of this.
 * The only episode of the twenty-fourth series (and thus the last overall in the original series) in which Emily appears but does not speak.
 * The only episode in which Thomas narrates but only cameos. In other episodes in which Thomas does not have a speaking role aside from his narration, he does not appear at all.
 * The only appearance of the Coal Hopper since the eighteenth series episode, Spencer's VIP, thus making this its last appearance.
 * This marks the last with a few things:
 * The last episode to have James as the lead and title character.
 * The last episode to have Thomas without speaking in an episode.
 * The last episode directed by Dianna Basso. However, she would continue as a consulting director for Thomas' Not-So-Lucky Day, Thomas and the Inventor's Workshop and The Inventor's Spectacular Bridge.
 * The last appearance of the Sodor Suspension Bridge until the All Engines Go episode, Percy Disappears.
 * This episode was never aired in Germany and South Korea.
 * In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Baltic Russian dubs, the UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.

Goofs

 * When James whistles before the orchard, the steam comes from his whistle base.
 * When Rebecca is at the coal hopper, floating lumps of coal can be seen above the chute.
 * As he approaches the coal hopper, James is shown to be whistling, yet no whistle sound is heard.
 * When James goes after the kite, his voice cracks a lot.
 * When the truck heads towards the camera, it almost hits Rebecca, but in the next shot, it just approaches her.
 * When Percy derails, the coal clips through Rebecca's buffer.
 * On the RTÉ Player, this episode was incorrectly listed as Thomas' Not-So-Lucky Day.

Merchandise

 * Push Along

UK/IRL/AUS

 * The Super Engine