Thomas and Friends: The Adventure Begins

Thomas' Very First Passenger Train

October 8, 1923

By the next year, Thomas was back in the yard again, grumbling to himself because he was not allowed to pull passenger trains.

"It's not fair! I've been here for eight years and all the other engines are pulling trains except for me! I never go anywhere."

As he backed onto a siding, one of the newer engines from three years ago, a red L&YR Class 28 named Eagle stopped alongside his brother, who was none other than James, the same engine Thomas met during his journey to Sodor eight years ago.

"You can take my trucks away now," James said to Thomas. "I'm ready for my coaches."

The coaches turned out to be Annie and Clarabel, who were most appalled.

"You're such a show-off, James!" Clarabel fumed.

"Maybe I am," said James. "But you'll just wait and see if the Fat Director doesn't give me my own branch line soon."

Then Thomas smelled something black, like a tree catching on fire.

"Do you smell something smoky, James?" asked Thomas. "Like a burning smell?"

"No, not really," James sniffed the air, but could find nothing. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

And he puffed away with Annie and Clarabel behind. Thomas spoke to Eagle.

"Why can't I pull passenger trains, too?"

"You're too impatient," Eagle said. "You'd be sure to leave something behind!"

"Rubbish," said Thomas, crossly. "Just you wait. I'll show you."

Later in the evening, he found Henry by a water tower.

"Hello, Henry, you do look glum. Is it because you hid in a tunnel because of the rain?"

"I don't mind the rain now," Henry said sadly. "I used to be afraid of it, but now it makes me feel sad."

"Because you were blocked in a tunnel?"

"That's partly it, it's just a natural reaction. I mean, doesn't anyone feel sad on a rainy day?"

"Good point," Thomas figured. "But rain is just water, the same as you put in your boiler."

"Don't tease about it," fumed Henry. "I've had enough of that event to last me a lifetime."

"I was just asking," Thomas corrected. "You can't be afraid or feel sad about the rain all the time. Sometimes, rain can be for fun things, like playing in puddles or rolling your wheels in the mud."

"I hardly worry at all when it's sunny."

And Henry puffed away leaving Thomas in a state of confusion. James returned with Annie and Clarabel.

"Here's James!"

"Be careful!" whined the coaches.

Thomas sniffed the air. There was another whiff of black smoke.

"There's that burning smell again," he said, but James just blew it away and pretended as if nothing had happened.

One morning, he and Henry were alone. Henry was ill. The men worked hard, but he didn't get better and he wouldn't even come out of the shed.

"Do you think it might rain today, Henry?" Thomas asked.

The clouds above them covered the sky in an overcast shadow.

"No, Thomas. I think there's something wrong with my boiler. And when something is wrong with your boiler, it's hard to pull trains."

Now, Henry usually pulled the first train in the morning, and Thomas had to get his coaches ready.