'A Bad Investment'

James & the Scavenger
by Tines Sensahthe


Dear Friends,

The Fat Controller's railway is full of hardworking engines, but sometimes, they can become very greedy.  James was like this at one point, but then the Fat Controller brought a new engine to the railway to help out in tough times, and James learned the hard way what kind of trouble greed can cause!  When I first told him I would be writing about his adventures and incidents with Crow, he flat-out opposed it.  But now, he agrees that everyone should know what happens when you get too greedy.

-The Author


STORIES IN THIS VOLUME ARE:

1.  A Bad Investment
2.  Carrion
3.  Calling for a Crow
4.  The Flying Red Raven

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'A Bad Investment'

Lots of ships come to the harbors across the Fat Controller’s railway, carrying lots of goods such as timber, food, and railway supplies. But none are as important to the railway as coal. The importance of coal on the Fat Controller’s railway cannot be overstated. All the engines will tell you as much.

Of course, sometimes engines get too puffed up in the smoke box and think they deserve more coal than any other. One day, James arrived at the junction early. Thomas was usually the first one to arrive, and he usually teased James about being late, but this time, Thomas was nowhere in sight. James was delighted. When Thomas finally did arrive, James said, “Tut tut, Thomas, where have you been? And you always tell me to not be late. I am surprised.” And before Thomas could say anything else, James puffed away.

He was still feeling very pleased with himself later that night in the sheds.

“I say, you engines, you know what I think?”

No one said a word.

“Aherm… Well, alright, I’ll just tell you then,” said James. “I think it’s very hard work being such a splendid engine. I’ve been either on-time or early with all my trains the past few weeks. So I think I deserve a little something extra. I think an extra ration or two of coal will suffice.”

The other engines were outraged.

“That’s not for you to decide,” Edward scolded. “We’re given just how much coal we need and no more. Our tenders can only carry so much.”


“And I do much harder work than you!” snarled Gordon. “If anyone deserves more coal, it’s me!”

“Rubbish!” scoffed James. “You’re fat enough as it is. Any more coal and you’ll get boiler-ache or something.”

“Too much coal and your firebox will burst,” Gordon retorted. The other engines laughed, and James glared at him.

“Just you wait,” he snapped. “I’ll get what I deserve. And so will you!”


“Pah,” sniffed Gordon. “That’ll be the day.”

The next day, James was sent to work at the coaling depot. There were more trucks across the yard than James had ever seen before.

“What are all these trucks for?” James asked a foreman.

“A big shipment of coal has been commissioned. All the coaling stages need to be replenished,” the foreman replied. “We need all the trucks we can get.”


“A big shipment of coal, eh?” James said, smirking. He had an idea.

For the next several hours, James puffed around the yard arranging all the trucks into a big line. When he was finished, he went and found the foreman.   “Everything’s ready, sir,” he said brightly. “Shall I take it away, then?”

“Henry’s due to pull this train,” the foreman replied.

“But I’m already here,” James said, “and I’m just as capable of pulling goods trains as Henry. Besides, my next duty is a local passenger train. Henry would enjoy that much more than pulling a dirty coal train.”

The foreman was unsure, but he was impressed by James’s generosity, so he agreed, and everything was arranged. Before long, James had left the yard with the trucks and was cruising pleasantly along the main line.

But when he reached the junction, he went down the wrong line.

“What are you doing?” his driver demanded.

“Making an investment,” James replied smugly.

He rolled into a siding with the trucks, where he left some of them behind.

“What’s the meaning of this?” he driver demanded again.

“I’m a splendid red engine. I work harder than any of the others do,” James replied haughtily, “so I think I deserve more coal than any of the others do. These trucks are my reward – my special investment.”

“Everyone will notice there’s not enough coal at the stages,” his driver said severely.

“We have more than enough to go ‘round,” James scoffed. “Besides, all coal trucks look the same. Who’s going to notice a few are missing? By the time they figure it out, I’ll have already moved them somewhere else.” And James flounced away, feeling very pleased with himself. He began thinking of all the other places on the railway he could hide the trucks when he went back to retrieve them.

But he never got the chance. A few moments after James left, Gordon arrived. He was very cross. He had left the sheds that morning expecting to pull the express, but at the last minute he had been assigned to a goods train, with Henry taking over the express and Edward taking on the local passenger train Henry had just been recently reassigned to that morning. His schedule had been completely thrown off and it made Gordon’s boiler bubble with irritation. He pulled into the sidings to have the trucks uncoupled. He was about to leave when he saw several coal trucks hidden behind a line of vans.

“What are these doing here?” he wondered. “This place doesn’t need coal.”

“James put us here,” sneered the trucks. “He said he was going to keep us hidden away for his own personal use.”

Gordon wheeshed angrily. “Trying to take some more coal for himself, eh? Huh! I won’t have it! Let’s see what he thinks of this!”

So Gordon buffered up to the trucks and puffed away with them.

When James returned later and found the trucks were missing, he went into a panic something terrible.  “Oooh!” he cried. “Where are they! Where are they! Driver, I left them right here!”

“Serves you right,” said his driver. “That’ll teach you.”

“Come on,” cried James, “we have to find them!” And he raced away down the line.

Further along the line, Gordon was running along with the trucks, feeling very proud and triumphant. “This’ll teach James!” he laughed. “Thinking he can just take whatever he want. Pah! What arrogance! This’ll show him. I’ll take this coal for myself. It should make up nicely for the bad morning I’ve had.”

However, Gordon didn’t know that further down the line, near a bridge, the points had jammed. They were in neither one position nor the other, but stuck in between, and when Gordon clattered over them, he and the trucks jumped off the tracks and slid across the ground, down an embankment, and into a river. Luckily, Gordon’s driver and fireman had jumped clear, and Gordon had stopped on the bank of the river, but the trucks and their loads of coal were lost.

James arrived some time after. Gordon’s driver and fireman were waving and shouting, and the signalman was racing about his box making phone calls. James looked down to see Gordon lying prone on the bank of the river and he glared at him.

“So it was you!” he exclaimed. “You took my trucks! And now look what you’ve gone and done! You’ve spoilt it all!”

“None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t stolen the coal in the first place!” Gordon snapped angrily.

“If who hadn’t stolen what?” said a familiar voice. Both engines looked to see the Fat Controller walking towards them, and James, seeing his opportunity, jumped.

“It’s Gordon, sir,” he said quickly. “He stole some of my coal train because he thinks he deserves more coal than anybody else.”

“He did, now, did he?” said the Fat Controller thoughtfully.

“That’s a lie!” Gordon whooshed. “You’re the one that - !”

“The train was too heavy,” James went on, “so I thought I’d leave some of it behind and come back for it later. But when I came back, the trucks were gone. Gordon was talking about it in the shed last night. He said he deserved more coal than anybody else. I heard him. He said he might have to make a ‘special investment.’”

“Well, it would appear that he has made a bad investment,” the Fat Controller said sternly. “We must now bring in another engine to help while you are mended, and during a coal shortage, no less. You have put us in an awkward predicament, Gordon. When you get back from the works, you shall work in the coal depot until you learn not to be so greedy.”


Gordon silently fumed. Then the Fat Controller turned to James.  “As for you,” he said, “you must learn to be more careful with your trains. You can’t just leave them lying about.”

“Yes, sir,” James said humbly. With that, he puffed away to fetch the breakdown train, feeling Gordon’s glare burning him through even after he was out of sight.