I assumed that James was a reject. Given to the military because he was an underpreformer, the reason he was sold was because he wasn't working up the the standards of the R.O.D. So STH was able to get a decent price (only slightly bellow his real value lol)
@@The_BS_Production I know this very weird but... (And no one should talk about this) My Personal conspiracy theory was that James was meant to be a hybrid between a Class 28 & 30, but because of the way he was built meant that none of the weight was avalible for the 1st bogey to have adhession over, which allowed James to derail on his 1st days on Sodor (ignoring the fact his brakes were made of dead trees), he might of hit the curve too hard & his flew off the track directing the whole train with him.
