James the Red Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic red tender locomotive from The Railway Series children's books by the Reverend Awdry and the TV series adaptation Thomas & Friends. He has a 2-6-0 ("Mogul") wheel arrangement and is engine number 5 on the North Western Railway, the Fat Controller's railway on the Island of Sodor.

Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins is a 2015 British animated adventure comedy film produced by HIT Entertainment and animated by Arc Productions. It serves as a prequel to the British television series, Thomas & Friends. It is based on the first two books of The Railway Series: The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine, which were previously adapted into the first seven episodes of the show's first season in 1984. It commemorates the 70th anniversary of The Railway Series, making it the first installment to officially adapt a Railway Series story since Series 4.