Current 17+ Gordon Henry James Thomas And Friends. Thomas is apt to get into trouble by trying too hard to be, in his words, a really useful engine, attempting to do things that are best left to bigger engines. When his teasing goes too far, gordon decides. James thinks of himself as a really splendid engine. Thomas and gordon.thomas is a blue tank engine who works at a big station on the island of sodor, shunting coaches to their proper places.