so unreliable that the loco could not be used for regular services. Awdry later noted that it was sent away in the 1980s for a new motor and chassis and came back "completely transformed". Awdry's second model of James was based on a 1960s Tri-ang Johnson 3F 0-6-0; a conversion which Hornby themselves would use for the production version of their model of James, several decades later. James in The Railway Series James the Red Engine was the third book in the Railway Series by Reverend W. Awdry. It picked up where the previous book, Thomas The Tank Engine, left off, as James was introduced in "Thomas & The Breakdown Train" where the Troublesome Trucks pushed him into a field after his wooden brake blocks caught fire. James and the Top Hat The Fat Controller has given James a new coat of red paint, to cheer him up after the accident on his first day, and becomes rather conceited. He lets off steam and accidentally sprays water on the Fat Controller's new top hat. He hurries Edward and the coaches away in panic and initially pulls too far from their first stop station platform. After meeting Thomas again, he focuses enough to move their train over Gordon's Hill, and he and Edward laugh about its comical name origin, which unfortunately leads to James' laughter becoming hiccups, frightening an elderly passenger. After an eventful day, James is content with his success, yet worried about the Fat Controller's response. James and the Bootlace The next day, the Fat Controller (still cross over his hat’s dampening) threatens to repaint James blue if he continues to cause trouble. An upset James is impatient and rough with the coaches, to where their resistance brings a leak in the brake pipe, which his driver, fireman, and conductor mend with newspaper and a passenger's bootlace, after coercing the only passenger with a bootlace to reluctantly hand it over. Once the hole has been mended, James miserably resolves not to bump coaches as he awaits the outcome. Troublesome Trucks After the incident with the coaches, James has been confined to the shed for several days. The Fat Controller lets James out and assigns him a goods train. The trucks try to make him give up when they come to Gordon's Hill, but James keeps on. Eventually, a rusty coupling snaps, and some trucks roll downhill. The conductor stops