Henry

### Basis

4-6-2 LNER Gresley A1 and LNER C1 hybrid 4-6-0 LMS Stanier Class 5 "Black Five" (Rebuilt)

### Arrived On Sodor

1922

**Henry** is a green mixed-traffic tender engine who works on the Main Line. He was originally a failed prototype engine, 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.

## Biography

Henry's precise origins are uncertain. The story goes that he was built from drawings stolen from Sir Nigel Gresley at Doncaster about 1919 by an anonymous locomotive builder who held a grudge against him and desired to steal a march on him. His spy, however, blundered and took the wrong drawings; they were for an experimental engine, but were supposed to be for the new "Pacific" locomotives Gresley was designing at the time. The thief realised his mistake too late and Henry was built, with many resulting flaws and a superficial likeness to Gresley's Pacifics.

Henry was vain and stopped in the Ballahoo Tunnel and refused to come out, citing that his paintwork would be spoiled by the rain. After several attempts to move him failed, he was bricked up in the tunnel until Gordon broke down while pulling the Express. As Edward was unable to move the train himself, the Fat Controller offered to let Henry out of the tunnel to help. Henry eagerly accepted.

Henry performed very well and the Fat Controller 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. However, many people confused him with Gordon, to the bigger engine's annoyance. The matter was worsened after a trip to the Works when Henry was given spares of Gordon's buffers. Sometime before 1935, Henry, when again offered new paint, chose green and so ended the Gordon/Henry confusion.

Unfortunately, Henry was to suffer humiliation when he was hosed with water by an elephant he frightened. 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. The Fat Controller 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, 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 parts replacements. 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 at Killdane while pulling the Flying Kipper and was sent to Crewe to be rebuilt in 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).

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 criticising Henry for whistling loudly at stations, but he had to eat his words later that day after his own whistle valve jammed open. Some time later, Henry was taking a slow train. As he passed under a bridge, three boys he had assumed to be railfans dropped stones onto him and his coaches. He paid them out on his return journey by "sneezing" ashes that collected in his smokebox at them.

## Personality

Henry is generally well-behaved and friendly, but is sometimes arrogant. Henry is at heart, a very hard worker, but his frequent bouts of illness hinder his work. His illnesses almost always have something to do with his boiler. Unlike Gordon and James, Henry does not mind pulling trucks, especially as he is a mixed traffic engine, although when he is given the job of pulling the express whenever Gordon is unable to, this can get to his smokebox and he can act full of himself.