It was that time of year, and some of the engines of King's Cross were in need of new coats of paint. They entered the workshop, and were given brand new coats of paint. But when they received them, they were not too happy about them.

"WHAT IS THIS!?!" exclaimed Mallard. "This is outrageous!!" said Duchess. "Why do I have the British Railways crest on my tender?" asked City of Truro. "M-M-M-MY SILVER PAINT WORK!!!" screamed Silver Link. "Oh man," said Arron, "I wanted to be painted in a Southern Railways malachite green color. I was always just black." "Wow," said Steve, "Now, I just need to have a yellow number 3 painted on my tender, and no one will be able to tell the difference between me and Henry!!" said Steve. "Why blue??" asked Bertram, "I asked to never, EVER, have this color on me again! I hate blue!" "WHAT'S WRONG WITH BLUE!?!?" exclaimed Mallard. "Oh, sorry," said Bertram. "Hey," said Perry, "You all have your British Railways numbers and the crest." "What?" asked Mallard, "Why are we even in British Railways colors?" "It was a request by the railway board themselves," said the shed master. "I know some of you might think it's not better than your original paint jobs, but we couldn't do anything about it." Soon, the engines grew tired of arguing, and went to work.

Silver Link backed down onto his train, and saw many people saying, "Who is that?/Why is Silver Link black?/Did they go for a retro look?" Mallard headed north, and people said, "LOOK, IT'S THE FLYING SCOTSMAN!!!" And others would say, "No, that's an A4, not the Flying Scotsman."

Steve worked along the mainline, hauling goods, when some engines said, "Isn't that Henry from Sodor?" "No, he doesn't have a number 3 on his tender." Steve smiled, knowing that he was now more noticeable.

Some engines liked their new paint. Harold for instance was now painted in the LMS Marrion, with the logo on his tanks. It was a hard day, and some of the engines complained about their new paint.

Bertram complained all day, over the fact he was a color he hated. "It's disgraceful!!" he said, "I should be LNER green, just like Scotsman should!" "Well, I don't think that they'll care much. They might mistake you for Edward on Sodor," said one of the coaches. Bertram just rolled his eyes. He then met up with Mallard at the next station. "It's disgusting!" said Mallard, "US!! In British Railways colors!! I say, we go on strike, and demand that they make us our proper colors again!!" "I wouldn't advice that," said a voice. It was the director of the railway board. "Oh, sir, we........ um, didn't see you there!" "We wanted to show variety in the engines here, not just of the Big Four, but of British Railways too. Now, please, no nonsense, or I might see to it that you are painted pink, and nothing else." "Yes sir," said Mallard. After that, Mallard and Bertram worked hard, and didn't complain at all. Even if Mallard and Flying Scotsman were mixed up at times.

Soon, the night came, and the engines talked about the day. "I was actually called Thomas!! All because I'm blue!!" said Duchess. "Mallard and I can't be recognized without looking at our boilers," said Scotsman. "I feel like a diesel," said Silver Link. "Well, it will only get better later on," said Max. "I want to die," said Bertram, "This paint makes me feel silly." "Oh come on!" said Mallard, "Blue isn't that bad!!" Soon, the engines talked, and then went to sleep, and they soon found out, that they would soon have some help, but I mustn't say more, or I will spoil the next story.