Henry (T&F)

HenryRWS.pngHenryTVModel.pngHenryCGI.png
**Henry** is a green tender engine who works on the North Western Railway and is number 3. He originally had a smaller firebox and needed special Welsh coal to operate properly. Following his accident when pulling the Flying Kipper, Henry underwent an extensive rebuild, giving him a new shape and better performance.

## Biography

### Railway Series

Henry's exact origins are unknown. The story goes that he was built from drawings stolen from Sir Nigel Gresley at Doncaster in 1919 by an anonymous locomotive builder who held a grudge against him. The spy, however, blundered and took the wrong drawings. Instead of the new A1 "Pacific" locomotives that Gresley was designing at the time, with the prototype of the A1 Class being Gordon, the thief ended up with plans that had been rejected early on. The mistake was realized too late, and Henry was built with many resulting flaws, and only a superficial likeness to Gresley's Pacifics. One of these flaws was an undersized firebox, making Henry an unreliable shy steamer.

The thief was delighted to sell his "White Elephant" on to the first desperate customer who came along - Sir Topham Hatt. He had intended to buy a Great Central Railway Robinson Atlantic locomotive but was swindled and Henry was purchased instead. Henry arrived in 1922, and as the railway was facing a motive power crisis Sir Topham Hatt, out of desperation, had no choice but to keep him.

When he came, Henry was vain and stopped in the Ballahoo Tunnel and refused to come out, believing that his paintwork would be spoiled by the rain. After several attempts to move him failed, he was bricked up in the tunnel for a duration of time, between several weeks to a few months, until Gordon broke down while pulling the Express. As Edward was unable to move the train himself, Sir Topham Hatt offered to let Henry out of the tunnel to help. Henry eagerly accepted and was later freed from being bricked up.

Henry performed well and Sir Topham Hatt promised him a new coat of paint, since Henry's existing paintwork had been spoiled more by his stay in the tunnel than it would have been by the rain. Henry asked to be painted blue like Edward, only for many people to confuse him with Gordon, much to the bigger engine's annoyance. The matter was worsened after a trip to the Works when Henry was given a spare set of Gordon's buffers. These buffers were later removed after Henry - while boasting about them - ran into the buffers at Tidmouth. To cheer him up after losing his square buffers, Sir Topham Hatt offered Henry to be repainted green, so as to end the confusion between him and Gordon.

Unfortunately, Henry was to suffer humiliation when he was pushed out of a tunnel and later hosed with water by an escaped elephant. After Gordon and James had suffered humiliations of their own and all three had become thoroughly fed up having to do their own shunting and fetch their own coaches, the big engines went on strike. Sir Topham Hatt naturally disapproved of this nonsense and locked them up in the shed for several days, leaving them miserable. However, they were let out again after promising to work hard.

The poor engine and his system - which was already finicky at best due to design flaws - never really recovered from his stay in the tunnel. Henry developed steaming problems, which he complained about constantly, though he found little sympathy from the engines, especially when it caused him to run late.

A period came when the Main Line engines were supplied with a poor delivery of coal and Henry had a very difficult time of it indeed. He had strength to pull trains only sporadically, in spite of numerous part replacements, and there was talk of being replaced by another engine. At last, the Fat Controller looked into it personally and asked for the opinion of Henry's fireman, who told him about the poor coal and Henry's firebox being too small to burn it efficiently. The fireman also suggested purchasing the high-grade Welsh coal used on the Great Western Railway. Sir Topham Hatt agreed to purchasing some in order to give Henry "a fair chance".

When the Welsh coal came, Henry's performance vastly improved, such that he was comparable to Gordon. He continued to use the coal until he had a collision with a goods train near Killdane while pulling the Flying Kipper and was sent to Crewe to be rebuilt in around 1935. Henry was rebuilt into a Stanier 5MT. Sir Topham Hatt had connections with Sir William Stanier, so this is likely the reason he managed to get Henry rebuilt so quickly. Besides being given a new shape, Henry also received a larger firebox, allowing him to use regular coal again.

After returning, Henry was added to the rotation for the Express and pulled it so well that he made Gordon jealous. Gordon tried to get even by rudely criticizing Henry for whistling loudly at stations, but he had to eat his words later that day after his own whistle valve jammed open. Sometime later, Henry was taking a slow train. As he passed under a bridge, three boys he had assumed to be railfans threw stones at him and his coaches. He paid them out on his return journey by "sneezing" ashes that collected in his smokebox at them.

When Queen Elizabeth II was due to visit Sodor in 1953, Henry assumed that he was Sir Topham Hatt's choice to pull the Royal Train. But the day before, while he was idling at the station, his smoke blinded a painter, who fell along with his paint pot onto Henry. The paint splashed over Henry's boiler and as painting over it would take too long, Gordon was given the job instead.

When Duck arrived in 1955 to take over Percy's duties as station pilot, Henry - along with Gordon and James - teased him and tried to give him orders, as they had been doing to Percy. With Percy's help, Duck blocked the big engines from entering the shed. Sir Topham Hatt arrived and told the two tank engines off for causing a disturbance. Henry and the others laughed - until Sir Topham Hatt shouted for silence and told them that they had been worse, as they had made the disturbance. He told them that Duck was right - he, Sir Topham Hatt, is in charge and he gives the orders; Henry respected Duck more after that.

Henry acted rudely with the engines at Barrow-in-Furness who were in the middle of a conversation with Percy, calling him and them "silly things" and challenged Percy's statement that he did not fear water. Percy retaliated by reminding Henry about his stay in the tunnel, but Percy was shown wrong when he accidentally ended up smokebox-first in the sea at Knapford Harbour. When Percy was to be sent to the works the next day, Henry ridiculed Percy and told him that he would be braver the next time he plunged into the sea, but Percy was quite determined that there would not be a next time.

Henry would then later accompany the engines to England.

Henry's good opinion of Duck would be briefly spoilt in 1957. He and the other main line engines were growing very tired of Duck's incessant talk about the Great Western Railway following City of Truro's visit. A diesel sent to the island on trial quickly developed a grudge against Duck and spread nasty stories about the main line engines to the trucks, stories he falsely claimed that Duck had told him. Furious at being called "Old Square Wheels", Henry joined Gordon and James in barring Duck from the shed just like what Duck and Percy had done previously. He felt sorry a few days later when he became the next target of Diesel's slander and when Duck returned after preventing an accident, Henry cheered for him loudly.

When Gordon started feeling depressed in 1967, Henry - who thought Gordon was just moaning and groaning - teased him and told him he should get a wash-out and would feel much better. When Gordon's brother Flying Scotsman visited Sodor, Henry was jealous of the visitor's second tender. Although Duck and Donald explained this (which Henry understood), he was still vain enough to want an additional tender. Deciding to bring Henry down to earth, Duck told the big engine that he had in his possession not one, but six spare tenders, which, as a tank engine, he had no need of. Henry accepted and all the engines waited to see him go past. But instead of a splendid sight, the tenders were old, rusted and full of boiler sludge. Gordon mocked him with a comment about wash-outs.

Henry became frustrated the day after D7101 and D199 arrived on trial. This made him so hot that his regulator fused wide open and his driver had to use the reverser to control him. On his return journey (no train), he stopped at a signal box next to D199, who had a train of fuel and oil tankers. The signalman told them that D199 - who he nicknamed "Spamcan" - had failed and that he needed to be moved out of the way to clear the line for the "Limited". Henry pulled the train clear, but shortly afterwards, D7101's ejector failed and the "Limited" ground to a halt. Henry then volunteered to help move both trains. Luckily all he had to do for D7101 was keep the vacuum brakes off, but it was still hard work. The cavalcade made it to a station where Flying Scotsman waited to take the coaches and Donald to take the goods. Henry brought D7101 to the Works afterwards and following this valiant rescue, he was no longer teased for the incident with the tenders.

Later, when Gordon needed new tubes, Henry pulled the express, but soon fell ill as well. This left the job of the express to Thomas, Percy and Duck. A while later, Henry had to pull an extra-long Flying Kipper and Duck had to help him up Gordon's Hill. But due to a tail-lamp falling off the rear van, Duck accidentally crashed into the train.

During the subject of paint colors, Henry commented on how he would hate to be red and look like a fire engine in an attempt to mock James. The next day, he was rough with his coaches and resulted in breaking the drawbar between him and his tender. Because of his separated source of water, his fireman was forced to throw out the fire, which set the sleepers alight. After the fire brigade put out the flames, Henry never made rude comments on fire engines again.

In 1985, Henry complained to Thomas the time that the Viaduct had gone under repairs, when Thomas became impatient with his connection between the main line engines and his branch line. Later when bringing passengers for Thomas, the tank engine ran away.

In 1986, when Gordon accidentally blew ashes when his smokebox was clogged, Henry suggested that Gordon should have a good "sneeze", but Gordon reminded Henry that Sir Topham Hatt did not like Henry's sneeze. He also pulled the express when Gordon slipped on the icy rails and befriended Pip and Emma.

When Thomas had been invited to the Great Railway Show, Henry was angry at having not been chosen and later teased Percy that Thomas was old enough to become a museum piece.

In 1992, during the time when the railway began using a new type of coal, Henry began having problems with it. This resulted in his smokebox door having to be pasted shut with damp shredded newspaper when hot ashes damaged it. He was to head to Crovan's Gate with James on the Express, but after crossing the Viaduct one of the steel rims on his driving wheel broke off and shattered a window on one of the coaches. He was taken off and managed to get to the Works. After his repairs, he was given an undercoat of red paint, but before the green could be applied, he was called out to pull the Express. Despite his looks, he managed to pull the train, even getting up Gordon's Hill on his own and returned home with his finished coat of green.

He later fretted over the Golden Jubilee despite Duck, Daisy, James and Donald trying to cheer him up.

### Television Series

When Henry first came to Sodor Sir Topham Hatt was unhappy because Henry could not steam properly due to a smaller firebox. Then few years later when it was raining on the Island of Sodor, he was vain and stopped in his Tunnel and refused to come out, believing that his paintwork would be spoiled by the rain. After several attempts to move him failed, he was bricked up in the tunnel for a duration of time, between several weeks to a few months, until Gordon broke down while pulling the Express. As Edward was unable to move the train himself, Sir Topham Hatt offered to let Henry out of the tunnel to help. Henry eagerly accepted and was later freed from being bricked up.

Henry would prove to be a poor steamer. One day, when he was ill, Thomas had to take his train for him. He, along with Gordon and James, would also go on strike. Sir Topham Hatt naturally disapproved of this nonsense and locked them up in the shed for several days, leaving them miserable. However, they were let out again after promising to work hard.

A period came when the Main Line engines were supplied with a poor delivery of coal and Henry had a very difficult time of it indeed. He had strength to pull trains only sporadically, in spite of numerous part replacements, and there was talk of being replaced by another engine. At last, Sir Topham Hatt looked into it personally and asked for the opinion of Henry's fireman, who told him about the poor coal and Henry's firebox being too small to burn it efficiently. The fireman also suggested purchasing the high-grade Welsh coal used on the Great Western Railway. Sir Topham Hatt agreed to purchasing some in order to give Henry a fair chance.

When the Welsh coal came, Henry's performance vastly improved, such that he was comparable to Gordon. He continued to use the coal until he had a collision with a goods train while pulling the Flying Kipper and was sent to Crewe to be rebuilt. Besides being given a new shape, Henry also received a larger firebox, allowing him to use regular coal again.

After returning, Henry was added to the rotation for the Express and pulled it so well that he made Gordon jealous. Gordon tried to get even by rudely criticizing Henry for whistling loudly at stations, but he had to eat his words later that day after his own whistle valve jammed open. Sometime later, Henry was taking a slow train. As he passed under a bridge, three boys he had assumed to be railfans threw stones at him and his coaches. He paid them out on his return journey by "sneezing" ashes that collected in his smokebox at them.

When Duck arrived to take over Percy's duties as station pilot, Henry - along with Gordon and James - teased him and tried to give him orders, as they had been doing to Percy. With Percy's help, Duck blocked the big engines from entering the shed. Sir Topham Hatt arrived and told the two tank engines off for causing a disturbance. Henry and the others laughed - until Sir Topham Hatt shouted for silence and told them that they had been worse, as they had made the disturbance. He told them that Duck was right - he, Sir Topham Hatt, is in charge and he gives the orders; Henry respected Duck more after that.

Henry's good opinion of Duck would be briefly spoilt shortly afterwards. He and the other main line engines were growing very tired of Duck's incessant talk about the Great Western Railway. When Diesel was first sent to the island on trial, he quickly developed a grudge against Duck and spread nasty stories about the main line engines to the trucks, stories he falsely claimed that Duck had told him. Furious at being called "Old Square Wheels", Henry joined Gordon and James in barring Duck from the shed just like what Duck and Percy had done previously. He felt sorry a few days later and when Duck returned after preventing an accident, Henry cheered for him loudly.

Henry loves visiting the forest. Because of how much he loves it, he helped to replant trees after it was destroyed by a storm.

When Gordon started feeling upset, Henry - who thought Gordon was just moaning and groaning - teased him and told him he should get a wash-out and would feel much better. When Gordon's brother Flying Scotsman visited Sodor, Henry was jealous of the visitor's second tender. Although Duck and Donald explained this (which Henry understood), he still was vain enough to want an additional tender. Deciding to bring Henry down to earth, Duck told the big engine that he had in his possession not one, but six spare tenders, which, as a tank engine, he had no need of. Henry accepted and all the engines waited to see him go past. But instead of a splendid sight, the tenders were old, rusted and full of boiler sludge. Gordon mocked him with a comment about wash-outs.

When Queen Elizabeth II was due to visit Sodor, Henry assumed that he was the Fat Controller's choice to pull the Royal Train. But the day before, while he was idling at the station, his smoke blinded a painter, who fell along with his paint pot onto Henry. The paint splashed over Henry's boiler and as painting over it would take too long, Gordon was given the job instead.

One night, Henry had to take a train to Peel Godred, and Edward warned him about how when an owl hooted, a mist would roll in. Henry ignored Edward's warning. However, on his way along the branch line, the mist would soon settle in. Henry would also notice a sign saying "Beware of the viaduct," a closed crossing gate, a red signal, a coat discarded on a tree branch and a light flickering at a station. Henry and his crew were spooked, and headed back. The following night, when taking the train, Henry and his crew noticed crossing gates close and signals turning red by themselves. This spooked them so much, that they charged down the line, with a mysterious figure watching them from an abandoned station. Eventually, they ran right into a landslide in front of the viaduct. The trucks hit the rubble, derailed and plunged into the ravine under the viaduct. The mysterious figure soon arrived on a pump trolley; it was actually the fogman, Old Bailey, who revealed that he placed all the items around the line as a way of warning Henry about the viaduct. As a way of apologizing to Old Bailey for ignoring his warnings, the old station was restored and he was appointed its stationmaster.

When the tracks along Tidmouth Beach were eroded due to high tides, warning lamps were placed to prevent bigger engines from travelling along it. Thomas tried to warn Henry of the danger whilst at Knapford Harbour, but Henry simply ignored him, and set off with the Flying Kipper. However, due to Henry taking the Coastal Run, he was in danger of running across the damaged track. A heavy fog had also settled in, and the tracks had been fully submerged by this point. As Henry went along the line, he and his crew were unable to see the track ahead due to the fog, and by the time they did notice it, it was too late. Henry soon plummeted right into the sea, and spat out a mouthful of seawater. The following morning, Henry was lifted out of the water and into a barge full of fish. By the time Henry was back on the rails, he apologised to Thomas for ignoring his warning.

He also has had to go back to the railway works on several occasions, such as when his tubes were leaking and after he had an accident with some trucks. But the reason most often given for Henry's poor state is that he needed special coal again, even though this was corrected in the first series. This error began with the tenth series episode Toby's Afternoon Off and in It's Good to be Gordon, Henry had to use ordinary Coal, since Gordon took his Special coal, but this has been fixed as of King of the Railway as Toby stated that the fact that Henry needing special coal was fixed years ago. The last time Henry was stated to need special coal was in the fifteenth series.

In Season 17, he teased Scruff, took on some bad coal with Hiro, allowed Caitlin to pull the Flying Kipper for him at night, challenged James to deliver the fresh fish for him and almost got hit by Connor.

During one winter, he was tasked with working with Spencer to deliver trucks to Vicarstown. But Spencer teased him by making him think there was an abominable snowman on Sodor. After they had delivered their trucks, they both saw a strange white figure stumbling around on the tracks in front of them. Thinking it was the abominable snowman, Spencer tried to run away. Unfortunately, his valves burst, and Henry stood his ground to try and to make the snowman go away. Luckily, it was only Sir Topham Hatt who ended up running into trouble in the heavy snow.

One night, he saw Sailor John and Skiff rolling along the line and got a big fright, thinking Skiff was a ghost ship. Some of the engines teased him about it, even though he insisted the boat was real.

In Season 20, Henry had to pull the express for Gordon while he was having his firebox cleaned in the morning. He was initially hesitant but enjoyed himself, especially after the passengers complimented on how well he pulled it. Later, Henry was having a repaint at the Steamworks when Kevin gave him the wrong paint. Henry puffed into the night, his new paintwork glowing in the dark, causing his friends to think they had seen a ghost train. Sir Topham Hatt realized that Henry had the wrong paint and told him to return to the Steamworks for some proper green paint, while praising Henry for being the only engine working as all the others were too scared to come out of the shed.

Henry would later go to the Mainland and be a part of the Great Railway Show, competing in the Strongest Engine Race. After the race, he met up with the other engines and informed them that he came in fifth. Philip congratulated him, only for Henry to reveal that there were only five engines.

In Journey Beyond Sodor, Henry was due to go back to the Mainland with a goods train. However, a faulty signal caused him to crash into the back of Hiro's train. After being rescued by the Breakdown Train, Sir Topham Hatt arranged James to take his train while Henry is being repaired. However, Thomas took it before James could and James only went when Thomas did not return. Henry was soon fully repaired and returned to the sheds while the others finished singing The Most Important Thing is Being Friends, to which he asked, "What did I miss?"

Sometime after, Henry was relocated to Vicarstown Sheds with Rosie per his request. His old berth at Tidmouth Sheds was filled by Rebecca.
During the following Christmas, the boiler at the Sodor Animal Park broke down. Henry suggested taking the animals to the Steamworks to keep warm, but this was initially ignored by the Fat Controller.

Later, when Percy created rumours of a railway show for little engines at Ulfstead Castle, Henry was left to shunt his own train after Rosie abandoned her duties at Vicarstown to attend, making him run late.

When Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt went to London to meet the Queen again, Gordon voiced his displeasure at not being the engine chosen. Henry responded by teasing Gordon about his poor understanding of the names of the stations in London.

## Technical Details

### Basis

LMS Stanier 5MT Class.jpgLMS Stanier Class 5MT
 (Henry's Basis)
Henry is based on an LMS Stanier Class 5MT.

### Livery

Henry is painted NWR green with red lining. His number 3 is painted on his tender in yellow with a red outline.

## Appearances

* Railway Series
* Television Series

### *Railway Series*

* **The Three Railway Engines** - Edward's Day Out *(cameo)*, The Sad Story of Henry and Edward, Gordon and Henry
* **Henry the Green Engine** - Coal, The Flying Kipper, Gordon's Whistle, Percy and the Trousers and Henry's Sneeze

### *Thomas & Friends*

* **T&F Season 1** - Thomas Gets Tricked *(cameo)*, Edward Helps Out *(cameo)*, Come Out, Henry!, Henry to the Rescue, A Big Day for Thomas, Trouble for Thomas *(cameo)*, Thomas Saves the Day *(does not speak)*, A Proud Day for James, Thomas and the Conductor, Tenders and Turntables, Trouble in the Shed *(does not speak)*, Percy Runs Away, Henry's Special Coal, The Flying Kipper, Whistles and Sneezes, Gordon Takes A Dip and Thomas's Christmas Party