Last week on April 2, fellow Brony Sean Rey was riding his bicycle when two cars hit him, and both drove off, leaving poor Sean in terrible pain. His family is unable to afford the money for his recovery, but we can help out if you donate to Sean's Go Fund me campaign. Every little bit of money will count to help Sean recover from this devastating accident. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is all about teaching us kindness, empathy, and generosity, something that the two drivers did not heed, and we hope that they are caught and arrested for their reckless actions.
(full story here)
If you're unable to donate, please give Sean your regards and wish him well for his recovery. Thank you for your support.
Now onto the actual review - this time, James is back once more in the spotlight in James and the Diesel Engines!
THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL
(special thanks to the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia for the images)
James and the Diesel Engines
Written by Christopher Awdry
Illustrated by Clive Spong
Published September 17, 1984
Although many of the Sodor engines have come to accept diesels, James the red engine still doesn't trust them even after twenty or so years. But how did he get a change of heart?
Dear Friends,
To hear James talk sometimes you might have thought that he ran the Fat Controller's Railway on his own. He certainly needed no help from Diesels - or so he imagined. The other engines were more sensible, and realised that Diesels could take some of the weight off their own couplings. But now the Fat Controller tells me that James has had a change of heart. These stories tell you how it happened.
The Author.
To hear James talk sometimes you might have thought that he ran the Fat Controller's Railway on his own. He certainly needed no help from Diesels - or so he imagined. The other engines were more sensible, and realised that Diesels could take some of the weight off their own couplings. But now the Fat Controller tells me that James has had a change of heart. These stories tell you how it happened.
The Author.
BoCo shows a haughty visiting diesel around the line, but he stops doing so when the visitor refuses to share a shed with steam engines, and James nicknames the visitor "Old Stuck-Up". He sleeps outside of the shed, and the following morning, he remembers to refuel and get cleaned and decides to use the part of the shed used by Bear and BoCo. Unfortunately, he moves forward too quickly, slips on the oily rails and crashes into the shed wall.
I'll be honest; Old Stuck-Up has the least amount of originality of any character in the Railway Series. (Say what you want about Lady and Flash Sentry; at least they had some originality!) He's the same shape as the Bowled Out diesel, he's the same color as 199, and they all have the same anti-steam personality. Considering Bear and Mavis, they were new but didn't want to replace steam engines. Old Stuck-Up pretty much goes with the "bad diesel" cliche rather than against. As for the story, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's pointless on whole - the Sodor engines were barely affected by Old Stuck-Up's presence and his crashing into the shed wall is never brought up again! Not a good way to start a book.
I'll be honest; Old Stuck-Up has the least amount of originality of any character in the Railway Series. (Say what you want about Lady and Flash Sentry; at least they had some originality!) He's the same shape as the Bowled Out diesel, he's the same color as 199, and they all have the same anti-steam personality. Considering Bear and Mavis, they were new but didn't want to replace steam engines. Old Stuck-Up pretty much goes with the "bad diesel" cliche rather than against. As for the story, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's pointless on whole - the Sodor engines were barely affected by Old Stuck-Up's presence and his crashing into the shed wall is never brought up again! Not a good way to start a book.
Rating: 5 out of 10
The engines are tired of James complaining about diesels having two cabs and bragging about his importance. When he's forced to take a goods train on a misty day, James' temper doesn't improve. He has to whistle to the signalman to let him know he's ready, but another engine whistles instead, and the signalman switches the points as a wellwagon goes over them, causing it to go sideways into a signal.
First off, I like how they explained what a wellwagon is - bogie wheels at each end with a low section between them, and they carry heavy machinery like cars and tractors. The story is good... except for a few problems. Firstly, how did the signalman confuse another engine for James? If he was a new signalman, it would've made sense, but that leads me to my other problem - why did he not get scolded and yet James received the bunting? Granted, James was arrogant from the start, and he needed to be brought down a peg. Plus, the Fat Controller knew that a signal's loss is inconvenient, but he could've listened to James' side of the story as well! Because of this, I feel the ending was completely unfair to poor James.
Although this story has the same writing quality as Duck in the Water, I prefer the S18 episode more because James didn't see that he had caused trouble by not giving Rocky time to prepare, resulting in the signal being knocked over, leading to Oliver and Percy running into him, and afterwards, James owned up for his mistake, accepting that what he did was wrong. Plus, it did have funny moments as well.
First off, I like how they explained what a wellwagon is - bogie wheels at each end with a low section between them, and they carry heavy machinery like cars and tractors. The story is good... except for a few problems. Firstly, how did the signalman confuse another engine for James? If he was a new signalman, it would've made sense, but that leads me to my other problem - why did he not get scolded and yet James received the bunting? Granted, James was arrogant from the start, and he needed to be brought down a peg. Plus, the Fat Controller knew that a signal's loss is inconvenient, but he could've listened to James' side of the story as well! Because of this, I feel the ending was completely unfair to poor James.
Although this story has the same writing quality as Duck in the Water, I prefer the S18 episode more because James didn't see that he had caused trouble by not giving Rocky time to prepare, resulting in the signal being knocked over, leading to Oliver and Percy running into him, and afterwards, James owned up for his mistake, accepting that what he did was wrong. Plus, it did have funny moments as well.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
One night, the engines have a discussion about paint, and Henry comments that he's lucky not to be painted red as he'd look like a fire engine. Offended, James gets back at Henry, and the green engine is in a foul temper the next morning when he bumps his coaches. On the journey home, his tender breaks away from him, and part of Henry's fire falls onto the line. Edward takes over for Henry and tells the other engines about his mishap, and they're careful about what they say, even James, who notes that Henry has stopped making fun of the color of fire engines.
I prefer Christopher Awdry's take on Henry over the Barlow era's take. I like how Christopher's Henry is portrayed as an old grump; we all know someone like that, and they make for better comedy over the wussy hypochondriac Henry has been portrayed as in recent years. Yes, even in The Adventure Begins, and I'll explain why in a future post. A grumpy Henry is something I'd rather see more often on TV, and it'd be funny to see him having a verbal sparring or two with James. Onto the story itself, I like how it shows that sometimes, simple, innocent teasing can often lead to bad tempers, and sometimes with serious consequences, especially when Henry's tender broke away from him.
I prefer Christopher Awdry's take on Henry over the Barlow era's take. I like how Christopher's Henry is portrayed as an old grump; we all know someone like that, and they make for better comedy over the wussy hypochondriac Henry has been portrayed as in recent years. Yes, even in The Adventure Begins, and I'll explain why in a future post. A grumpy Henry is something I'd rather see more often on TV, and it'd be funny to see him having a verbal sparring or two with James. Onto the story itself, I like how it shows that sometimes, simple, innocent teasing can often lead to bad tempers, and sometimes with serious consequences, especially when Henry's tender broke away from him.
Rating: 9 out of 10
One cold, winter day, James takes on too much water at the works station, and out on the line, his injector fails. A friendly diesel is then brought in to James' rescue, and although the red engine doesn't want to be helped by a diesel, he doesn't have much choice. Soon enough, he becomes more friendly with the diesel and decides that they're not all that bad after all.
Like Crossed Lines, they explained some railway terminology nicely. An injector is a tap allowing the driver or fireman to transfer water from the the tender or tanks into a steam engine's boiler; if it fails, the water level could be too low produce steam and the fire has to be put out. The story also shows James' maturity in the story - if the diesel didn't help him, James would've been stuck on the main line to freeze. The reference to the last story was also nice; James didn't want to suffer more humiliation than he already felt when rescued by the diesel. The moral is that from Dragon Quest done right; James came to understanding that diesels are not all that bad, as did all the steam engines in due time, and thinking about that, it makes me hate Dragon Quest more, but I digress. It's a good story, but I'd have liked if the diesel said something...
Like Crossed Lines, they explained some railway terminology nicely. An injector is a tap allowing the driver or fireman to transfer water from the the tender or tanks into a steam engine's boiler; if it fails, the water level could be too low produce steam and the fire has to be put out. The story also shows James' maturity in the story - if the diesel didn't help him, James would've been stuck on the main line to freeze. The reference to the last story was also nice; James didn't want to suffer more humiliation than he already felt when rescued by the diesel. The moral is that from Dragon Quest done right; James came to understanding that diesels are not all that bad, as did all the steam engines in due time, and thinking about that, it makes me hate Dragon Quest more, but I digress. It's a good story, but I'd have liked if the diesel said something...
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Stray Observations
Old Stuck-Up's number was actually real - 40125 (D325) was actually withdrawn in 1981 and cut up at Swindon Works.
6011 King James I was a GWR King built in 1928, withdrawn in 1962, and scrapped in 1964. Three Kings are currently in preservation.
The Works Diesel is a Class 47 residing at Crovan's Gate - he is named Wendell in Sodor Island Forums' Extended Railway Series.
6011 King James I was a GWR King built in 1928, withdrawn in 1962, and scrapped in 1964. Three Kings are currently in preservation.
The Works Diesel is a Class 47 residing at Crovan's Gate - he is named Wendell in Sodor Island Forums' Extended Railway Series.
Overall
Because of the first story, the book feels like a step down - it feels like James didn't get a fantastic book to himself as both this and his 1948 book were lower than 8/10. To be fair, he did have good development by understanding that diesels are just as useful as steam engines, something which was forgotten about in Diesel's Special Delivery which shot his development in the tender. I feel that more effort could've been put into the first story; maybe something involving BoCo and/or Bear?
Overall Book Rating: 7.5 out of 10
The Railway Series Scorecard
1. The Three Railway Engines: 8.4
2. Thomas the Tank Engine: 9
3. James the Red Engine: 7.5
4. Tank Engine Thomas Again: 9.5
5. Troublesome Engines: 8.1
6. Henry the Green Engine: 8.4
7. Toby the Tram Engine: 9
8. Gordon the Big Engine: 8.6
9. Edward the Blue Engine: 9.3
10. Four Little Engines: 8.8
11. Percy the Small Engine: 8.9
12. The Eight Famous Engines: 8.8
13. Duck and the Diesel Engine: 8.5
14. The Little Old Engine: 8.9
15. The Twin Engines: 9.1
16. Branch Line Engines: 9.3
17. Gallant Old Engine: 9.3
18. Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine: 8.5
3. James the Red Engine: 7.5
4. Tank Engine Thomas Again: 9.5
5. Troublesome Engines: 8.1
6. Henry the Green Engine: 8.4
7. Toby the Tram Engine: 9
8. Gordon the Big Engine: 8.6
9. Edward the Blue Engine: 9.3
10. Four Little Engines: 8.8
11. Percy the Small Engine: 8.9
12. The Eight Famous Engines: 8.8
13. Duck and the Diesel Engine: 8.5
14. The Little Old Engine: 8.9
15. The Twin Engines: 9.1
16. Branch Line Engines: 9.3
17. Gallant Old Engine: 9.3
18. Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine: 8.5
19. Mountain Engines: 8.9
20. Very Old Engines: 9.1
21. Main Line Engines: 9
22. Small Railway Engines: 9.3
23. Enterprising Engines: 9.5
24. Oliver the Western Engine: 8.9
25. Duke the Lost Engine: 9.4
26. Tramway Engines: 9.1
27. Really Useful Engines: 8.3
28. James and the Diesel Engines: 7.5
20. Very Old Engines: 9.1
21. Main Line Engines: 9
22. Small Railway Engines: 9.3
23. Enterprising Engines: 9.5
24. Oliver the Western Engine: 8.9
25. Duke the Lost Engine: 9.4
26. Tramway Engines: 9.1
27. Really Useful Engines: 8.3
28. James and the Diesel Engines: 7.5
No comments:
Post a Comment