James has barely returned from the repair yard when news comes of a special; an engine is needed to take the Mayor of Sodor to the Festival of Light at Callan Castle. James volunteers and Rebecca, Richard and Mary get to do goods work. They ask James for help, but James says it is more important to look his best than to help his friends and James leaves for the washdown.
While James is being washed, Richard, who still has lots of work to do, stops by on his way to collect his freight and take it to Tidmouth Harbour. He asks James for some help, but James says no. Later, while James is getting polished, Rebecca arrives with some Troublesome Trucks which have been biffing her. He asks James for some help, but again, James says no. While James is getting his funnel cleaned, he starts to smell something bad, which turns out to be Mary pulling heavy trucks of fish. Mary asks James for some help, but once again, James refuses to have to help her. James is cleaned and decorated with flags and arrives at the castle, but is shocked to discover the others have not yet finished their work. James feels terrible for bailing out on his friends and goes out to help them.
James finds Rebecca, who is still having trouble with her trucks and helps, but is soon covered in coal dust. Next, he finds Richard struggling to pull his trucks of good on Gordon's Hill. James helps him by pushing him over. Lastly, he finds Mary, who cannot go any further with her heavy load. James pushes her and her load and knows he would be covered in fish.
Rebecca, Richard and Mary make it to the festival. James arrives with the Mayor, but is worried about what the Fat Controller might say after getting all dirty again. But to his surprise, the Fat Controller is proud of James for helping his friends and bringing the Mayor to the castle safely. The engines believe that even though James is dirty, he is still the star of the show.
