Great Little Engines is the twenty-ninth book of The Railway Series published in 1985.
- Patience is a Virtue: Sir Handel is delighted to have been chosen to visit the Talyllyn Railway, but can’t leave until Duke's restoration has been completed. When summer comes, Sir Handel's trains become longer. One day at the waterfall, there aren’t enough coaches and some passengers have to crowd in Beatrice. Sir Handel becomes impatient waiting for the guard to check all the tickets, and when he can finally go Sir Handel leaves without the guard. Luckily, a passenger presses Beatrice's emergency buzzer and Sir Handel realizes his mistake. Sir Handel collects the guard and races home, and arrives at Crovan's Gate on time, where the guard reminds him "patience is a virtue".
- Peter Sam and the Prickly Problem: With Duke fully restored, Sir Handel leaves for the Talyllyn Railway. Meanwhile, men have been trimming bushes so the passengers can see the scenery, but Rusty doesn’t have enough time to pick up the branches and so they remain where they are. One day, Peter Sam sees some branches on the line, and, not wanting to miss James' train, recklessly ploughs through. Unfortunately, they become jammed in his valve gear and although the worst is cut out Peter Sam's front feels very sore for several days afterwards.
- Pop-Special: Some boy scouts are camping near the Skarloey Railway and the scoutmaster arranges for them to do work on the line. One sweltering day, Duncan is stopped by the scoutmaster; the scouts are in need of some soda and he’s afraid they’ll become cross if they do not get some. The Refreshment Lady has run out of soda, but another tea-shop has enough to spare, and Duncan delivers it to the grateful scouts.
- Sir Handel Comes Home: Sir Handel returns from the Talyllyn Railway and tells the engines about his adventures. Some members of the royal family came to visit during his stay, and although Sir Handel didn’t get to pull their train, he did get to pull a party of wedding guests. When Peter Sam talks about his incident with the branches Sir Handel remembers a similar incident: he was puffing to Nant Gwernol when a fallen tree hit him in the face. Although his eye wasn’t badly hurt, his crew made a huge fuss about it and even went so far as to bandage his eye and give him an eyepatch. Sir Handel loved his trip, but is glad to be home.
This book contains examples of:
- An Aesop: For Sir Handel's case, don't be impatient.
- The Freelance Shame Squad: The other engines poke fun at Peter Sam's situation with the branches though Skarloey told them to stop.
- Poor Communication Kills: When Gordon calls Sir Handel "indispensible", Sir Handel thought he meant "insensible". This thought is what led him into being impatient to the point of leaving the guard behind.
- Time Skip: The first two stories take place in 1982, "Pop-Special" takes place in 1983, and "Sir Handel Comes Home" takes place in 1984.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Peter Sam decides to charge through the branches on the track, but this only resulted in his valve gear getting jammed.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: "Sir Handel Comes Home" is based on a real event on the Talyllyn Railway when Sir Haydn (who was playing the role of Sir Handel, and is actually the latter's basis) ran into a tree near Dolgoch, and damaged its "face".
