- Percy: [after seeing James' fuel trucks have caught fire] You said the countryside runs got you all fired up, James. But I didn't think you meant it in this way.
- James: Pah! It was the stupid truck's fault, not mine!
- [first lines]
- Narrator: Thomas, Percy, and James were looking at the early morning sky.
- Thomas: Everyone's so much happier when springtime comes.
- James: Everyone, except the Fat Controller. He seems to be working us harder than ever. I'm tired of these coastal runs!
- Percy: He just wants everything to be ready for the holidays. Anyway, salty air makes me all cheerful in my smokebox.
- James: Pah! It's the countryside that really gets me fired up. It's the only place to be.
- Narrator: And he puffed away to collect his fuel trucks from the docks.