Plot

Edward is teased by James about his weakness, but when his controls are tampered with and he goes out of control, James has to hope that Edward will be fast enough to pull him to a stop.

James is forced to wait at Wellsworth Station for Edward to arrive with his train which makes him angry and grumbles about being late. Edward finds it a good joke while James leaves to continue his work. Afterwards, James puffs to the shed, still grumbling. He complains to Thomas and Percy that Edward's always making the other engines wait and he clanks about like a lot of "old iron". Thomas and Percy, who both have a great deal of respect for Edward, are outraged at this remark and tell James that Edward could beat him in a race any day. James scoffs at this, before returning to his berth in the shed to rest.

The next morning, James' Driver suddenly falls ill while at work and is sent home. With only his Fireman on duty, James is relegated to shunting for the day. The Fireman uncouples James and leaves him to get ready for the days work. Suddenly the signalman spots James leaving without anyone on board. He quickly sets the points and signals to halt traffic down the line and tells the Fireman what has happened. It emerges that two Boys were seen on James' footplate fiddling with his controls, only to run when James started. The signalbox phone rings, with an Engine Inspector on the other end. He asks the Fireman to quickly get a shunter's pole and a coil of wire rope.

The Inspector soon arrives in Edward and the Fireman is ready with the objects requested. With James' fireman and the Inspector on board as well as his normal crew, Edward sets off determined to catch up to the runaway engine.

Meanwhile, James is enjoying his long run as he sails through Knapford and is still oblivious that anything is wrong. Before long, his joy turns to horror as he finds himself starting to go faster as he realizes that none of his crew are aboard and starts to call for help. Edward speeds through Knapford and races down the line as fast as he can in order to catch up to James. Soon the two engines are almost side-by-side with Edward giving it everything he can to keep up. Edward's driver does his best to keep Edward steadily aligned with James, while the inspector climbs outside and makes it to Edward's front with a noose of the rope hanging from the shunter's pole and tries to slip the rope over James' right buffer. It's difficult for the inspector, but he finally manages to lasso the buffer and pull it tight. James' fireman scrambles over to his engine and takes control, allowing both engines to finally slow down.

As the two tired engines approach Crosby station, James apologizes for his insult earlier, which Edward accepts. Waiting for them both is the Fat Controller. He congratulates the crew on a fine rescue and then tells James that he can rest before pulling coaches. As for Edward, he's going to be rewarded with a trip to the works to get his worn-out parts mended. Edward's very happy and notes how nice it'll be to get to run without clanking.