Henry

* Mk II
* Mk I

**Henry** is a large mixed-traffic tender engine who works on the North Western Railway. Originally built as a hybrid design between two different engines, Henry was a poor steamer and was considerably weaker than the other engines, but was rebuilt at Crewe Works in 1935 after a severe accident, curing his troubles.

Henry is a kind engine, but but is occasionally arrogant and vain, and sometimes teases or orders the smaller engines about. Although he may be more prone to illness than some of the other engines, Henry is a hard-working and reliable engine, and is one of the most useful engines on the Fat Controller's Railway.

## Biography

### Origins

Henry's origins have been shrouded in mystery; it is not known who built him, but what is known is that the person responsible for building him was a rival of Sir Nigel Gresley, who stole plans for his A1 class to build the engine. However, the spy sent to retrieve the plans blundered and stole the wrong blueprints, resulting in a hybrid between a Gresley A1 and an Ivatt C1 class. Henry proved to be a failure, and in 1922, he was sold to the North Western Railway during a locomotive crisis, as the Fat Controller was desperate to obtain any engine.

### Stay in the Tunnel

Henry was vain and shallow upon his arrival, and stopped inside the Ballahoo Tunnel with a passenger train when he feared that the rain would spoil his paintwork. Despite numerous attempts to make him move from the tunnel, Henry refused to move, and the Fat Controller decided to wall him up inside the tunnel and dig a new bore. Henry became lonely and miserable, and was often teased by the other engines as they rushed by. However, when Gordon burst his safety valve while pulling the express, Henry was allowed to come out of the tunnel and double-head the train with Edward, much to his delight. Henry managed to pull the train well, and was rewarded with a coat of blue paint after his old livery was spoiled during his stay in the tunnel.

However, Henry found out that he had a superficial likeness to Gordon, much to his annoyance, and he was often confused for Gordon by several people. This was worsened during a visit to the Works, when he received some of Gordon's spare parts during repairs. When he was offered a new coat of paint, Henry chose green again, finally putting an end to the confusion surrounding him and Gordon.

### The Strike

Shortly after a circus left, Henry was called out to the Tidmouth Tunnel with some workmen, as there were reports of a blockage inside the tunnel. When the workmen were scared away, Henry reluctantly went into the tunnel to push the blockage out, but was pushed back out by an elephant that had escaped from the circus. While the workmen fed the elephant, Henry wheeshed a cloud of steam, but was hosed down by the frightened elephant.

Henry was left humiliated after this experience, and subsequently went on strike with Gordon and James; he refused to do his work, and when he did, he behaved badly. After acquiring Percy, the Fat Controller shut the two engines up in the shed and had Thomas and Edward do their work for them. After several days of being left in the shed, Henry and the other two engines realized their mistake, and were allowed to come out of the shed.

### Welsh Coal

After his stay in the tunnel, Henry's already-poor performance became worse; he was short of steam and was more prone to illness than the other engines, but he found little sympathy from the other engines, especially when he was late with his trains.

During a period when the Main Line engines were supplied with a poor shipment of coal, Henry suffered the worst. He was only able to pull trains sporadically, and sometimes could not work at all, in spite of numerous part replacements. Deciding to look into the matter personally, the Fat Controller rode with Henry's crew in the cab during a passenger train, but Henry was only able to go as far as Wellsworth before he was short of steam. The Fat Controller asked Henry's Fireman about the situation, to which he replied that Henry's firebox was too small to burn the coal efficiently, suggesting to invest in the high-grade Welsh coal used by the Great Western Railway. Although it was expensive, the Fat Controller agreed, and ordered a fresh supply of Welsh coal for Henry, in order to give him a chance.

When the Welsh coal arrived, Henry's performance vastly improved. He now had the strength to pull trains, and was almost comparable to Gordon in terms of strength and reliability. During the winter season, Henry was scheduled to pull the Flying Kipper, and would be rewarded with an express run if he did the job well. However, on the night that he took the train, Henry collided into a goods train at Killdane when the points were frozen, and was badly damaged in the accident. The Fat Controller sent Henry to Crewe Works for an extensive overhaul, and in 1935, Henry returned to Sodor as a Stanier 5MT. He was now a more powerful and larger engine, and no longer required Welsh coal to steam properly, as his new firebox could now burn regular coal just as well as the other engines.

## Appearances

### The Railway Series

* The Three Railway Engines - Edward's Day Out (*possible cameo*), The Sad Story of Henry and Edward, Gordon and Henry

## Trivia

* Henry has appeared in more stories and books than any other engine in the Railway Series.
* The Rev. W. Awdry created a model of Henry for his layout. However, the model was just as troublesome as its fictional counterpart, and hardly ever worked properly. The model was later scrapped and was never replaced.

## References

1. ↑ The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
2. ↑ The Three Railway Engines
3. ↑ The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
4. ↑ Troublesome Engines
5. ↑ Troublesome Engines
6. ↑ Henry the Green Engine

**North Western Railway**