Morning arose over the Island of Sodor.

Edward had left the shed earlier than usual to work with trucks in the yard, so it was only Gordon, Henry, and James in the shed.

Gordon snickered.

"Remember the bootlaces, Henry?" he laughed.

Henry smirked.

"Oh yes, Gordon! Bootlaces are quite important, aren't they?"

"Indeed. Fastening shoes, tightening boots, but... there's a bigger purpose."

Gordon could hardly restrain his laughter.

"And would that be?" Henry snickered.

"Fixing a brake pipe!" Gordon chuckled and the two big engines laughed until their wheels wobbled.

"Too bad James had the audacity to use such a powerful item." Henry said cheekily.

James didn't think Gordon and Henry's teasing was very funny.

"Pah! Well, Gordon, what about the time you got stuck on your own hill? Sounds silly." James said confidently.

Gordon just scoffed.

"And what about you, Henry? Being afraid of the rain? What ridiculous engine does that?!" James added, trying to turn the teasing onto them.

But Gordon and Henry didn't listen, and kept on probing James about bootlaces.

"You don't have shoes, James; you don't need to use them!" peeped Henry.

James blew steam at them.

"Oh, no need to be rude." snorted Henry.

"You talk too much, little James. A fine, strong engine like me has something to talk about. I'm the only one who can pull the Express, since Henry has steam issues. When I'm not there, they need two engines; think of that! I've pulled expresses for years and years, and never once lost my way." said Gordon proudly.

Henry rolled his eyes.

"I seem to know the right line by instinct!" Gordon finished.

Every wise engine knows that it's the signalman, not the engine, who works the points to get engines to their destinations, but Gordon was so busy being proud of himself that he had forgotten.

James yawned sleepily.

"Oh, wake up James! It's nearly time for the Express! What are you doing today, hmm? Odd jobs? Well, we all have to start somewhere, don't we? Too bad you start off pathetically! Now run along and get my coaches, and please don't be late. Thomas has done that enough." Gordon said.

James was fuming as he puffed out of the shed, but quickly restrained himself when he got to the express coaches.

James was coupled up to them and he gently pushed them to the station.

The coaches were pleased.

"Well, done! So gentle, too! My, you're almost as good as Edward!" they tittered.

James couldn't help but grin.

That is, until Gordon backed onto his coaches.

James was uncoupled from the brake coach and he puffed onto a siding.

Gordon was showing off like anything.

He wheeshed steam carefully.

"I won't get any hats wet, unlike you, James!" Gordon snickered as the passengers, who were all important people, got onboard.

"Make way lad, make way!" Gordon continued as the doors to the coaches were all closed.

The guard waved his flag and blew his whistle, and Gordon puffed away, showing off again.

"Look at me now, little James! Look at me now, and my smart blue paint!"

Gordon whistled as he thundered past Knapford Junction.

"Bye bye, little James! See you tomorrow!" and Gordon disappeared out of sight.

James watched enviously.

"I wish I could pull the Express... but that's just wishful thinking."

And James returned to his work.

He was shunting another passenger train for Henry when he heard a mournful, quiet whessh of steam.

James cocked an eyebrow as he was being uncoupled.

Puffing into the station was Gordon, trying to not to be noticed; of course, James noticed him.

"Hello Gordon! Is it tomorrow already?" James laughed.

Gordon didn't answer and blew off steam feebly to hide his red cheeks.

"Did you lose your way, Gordon?" James probed.

This got Gordon to speak, crossly.

"No, it was lost for me! I was switched off the Main Line and onto the loop, so I had to come all around and back again!"

"Perhaps it was instinct!" said James.

Henry backed into the station and giggled as he puffed away.

Gordon was cross, and let off more steam; this time, covering himself completely.

Meanwhile, the passengers were on their way to the booking office.

"We want our money back!" a man shouted.

"Money back! Money back! Money back! We want our money back!" the passengers chanted.

Gordon groaned.

"Oh, the indignity..."

The Fat Controller heard the noise and went outside, horrified.

Determined to stop the shouting, he climbed onto a trolley and blew the guard's whistle as loudly as he could.

The passengers got quiet.

"Wait a moment, people, wait a minute! We can fix this confusion and delay! I promise you, that we will find another engine to pull this train, if you all keep quiet!" the Fat Controller said.

Gordon just scoffed.

"Well, Gordon here can't do it! Just look at him!" the Fat Controller said.

Gordon's face grew redder and he tried to cover himself in steam.

"But... perhaps, James? Perhaps you could take the Express?" the Fat Controller asked.

James beamed.

"Yes sir! I'll try my hardest!"

"That's a good engine!" the Fat Controller smiled and Gordon just grunted.

James was coupled up to the coaches.

The express coaches were pleased.

"Oh my, it's that nice engine from earlier!" the coaches said to each other.

The guard blew his whistle and the train started off again.

Stations and bridges flashed by as the passengers leaned out of their windows and cheered.

James just grinned as he approached Barrow-in-Furness.

"Thank you, James. Mighty good service." said the passengers and they left for their houses and buses.

James felt very proud indeed.

"Well, it seems as if Gordon isn't the only engine to pull the express!"

The Fat Controller climbed out of his coach, and walked over to James.

"Well done James; that certainly was a smooth run, and quite impressive too! Say, would you like to pull the Express sometimes? Gordon can't do it all the time, after all."

James was very surprised by this offer, but couldn't resist.

"Oh, yes sir! Thank you, sir!"

And James puffed off.

The next day, James puffed into Tidmouth again.

Edward was shunting trucks for Henry's next train when Gordon puffed in.

Edward was surprised.

"Gordon? What are you doing here?" he asked, clearly confused.

"The Fat Controller said I should shunt trucks for awhile; to get some rest, i suppose." Gordon grunted.

"Well... I thought you'd be more resistant." Edward chuckled.

"I... couldn't be. It's... simple work."

"Simple indeed!" Edward said.

Gordon said nothing as Edward puffed away, laughing to himself.

When Gordon saw James, he was clearly embarrassed.

"Um... erm... Hello, little James. I like a bit of quiet work for a change, you know?"

James giggled.

Gordon continued, feeling a bit confident.

"I'm teaching these trucks manners, you understand?" and Gordon biffed some trucks to prove it.

"Ow! Oh, ouch! Give it a rest!" the trucks moaned.

Gordon puffed back to James, feeling pleased with himself.

"You did well with those express coaches, I hear. Good. We don't want engines banging them about. We'll show them we're proper engines!" and he gave his trucks another bump.

"Give it a rest!" the trucks grumbled.

Gordon and James laughed.

Edward, in the yard, couldn't help but smile at the two new friends; for a while, James was in Gordon's shadow, but now James had proved himself to be his own identity.

Gordon and James are now good friends.

Since then, James sometimes pulled the Express to give Gordon a rest, Gordon never talks about bootlaces, and James never talks of Gordon's incident on the hill.

But they both often talk about trucks; how noisy they were, how dirty they were, and how troublesome they could be.

And now, James the Red Engine is indeed a Really Useful Engine.