Henry

Big Strong Henry (by Thomas, Percy and himself)

Very Helpful Henry (by Emily)

Mr. Special Steam (by 'Arry and Bert)

Kerry Shale (US: 2009-present)

**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 and better performance.

## Appearance

Henry is a big tender engine about the same size as Gordon. He also has nearly the same number of wheels as him. Like Percy, Henry is painted in NWR apple green with red and yellow lining. His number 3 is painted on the sides of his tender in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow.

## 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. While he does not usually mind pulling trucks Henry hated to shunt his own trains, which led to several miserable days stuck in the sheds after a failed attempt at going on strike.

In the television series, Henry has been portrayed with a much kinder and softer personality. He has been shown as a nature-lover, as evidenced in Henry's Forest. This personality carried on throughout the more recent series with Henry being occasionally a tree-hugging engine too, as he tried to prevent the tall pine tree and the wishing tree from being cut down.

In the newer series, Henry is portrayed as not too bright and sometimes really worrisome, as shown in multiple episodes. This worrisome personality was also featured in The Adventure Begins, which greatly contrasts to the original version of The Sad Story of Henry. He has shown instances when he was either moody, arrogant and vain, but proud, strong and witty, much like the earlier series, particularly when someone pokes fun at his expense and when vain engines start getting smug.

Henry is the most likely to be respectful to engines such as Edward, Percy, Thomas and Toby on a regular basis. He does not frequently antagonize his fellow friends and usually shows remorse for his actions. Because of this, he is often considered to be much friendlier than Gordon and James. These traits also make him more level-headed than his fellow big engines, who often find him trying to keep them in line.

## Trivia

* Henry appeared in the *Railway Series* more than any other engine, having been in both the most books and the most individual stories.
* The mention of Henry having originally been ordered as a GCR Robinson Atlantic in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways is based on Awdry's original illustrations of The Three Railway Engines, which depict him as a 4-4-2.
* In the 1997 annual story, We Wish You a Merry Christmas!, Henry's fireman was revealed to be named Ted. In the magazine story, Henry Helps, Old Bailey is Henry's driver.
* Awdry's own model of Henry was as troublesome as its fictional counterpart; it never really worked properly. In November 2020, Awdry's Henry model was found at the Narrow Gauge Museum in Tywyn. Prior to this, the model was long thought to have been scrapped, which was reinforced by Awdry not making a replacement model: according to the museum, Awdry had been working on fixing the model at the time of his death in 1997. The model is currently in a glass display case, in a notably decrepit condition; the model is missing it's siderods, middle driving wheels and bogie wheels, while the remaining driving wheels are missing paint. The paintwork is overall very worn as well. The model's missing parts are currently stored in a box alongside it.
* Henry is the third character to be removed from the Steam Team, the first two being Edward and Toby.
	+ Of these three, Henry is the only one to not have any major roles following his removal from the main cast.
* In the Greek narration of the first to seventh series, Henry is called "Charlie". From the thirteenth series onwards, Henry has been referred to with his original name to avoid confusion with Charlie, who was introduced that series.
* One of Henry's models is on display in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum (previously at Nitrogen Studios) and is currently wearing his sad face. Another was on display at Drayton Manor with the rest of the Steam Team at Tidmouth Sheds along with Sir Topham Hatt, his crew and his car and wore his happy face, while the other was on display at the British Museum and wore his unused fourth series exhausted face.
* An Ertl Henry appeared in the American sitcom, *Everybody Loves Raymond*.
* Henry's Ertl toy lacked splashers and was modelled after his rebuild in the first series, making him closer to both the original Dalby illustrations and his real-life counterpart.
* The only pieces of merchandise to depict Henry in his original shape are a small pull back toy [1] and a prototype for the Thomas Engine Collection Series.
* When nameboards were still used in the series, Henry never had a nameboard shot where he was in his new shape.
* Martin Sherman said in an interview with Sodor Island Fansite, that he originally auditioned to voice Henry, but got the parts for Thomas and Percy instead.
* Henry, Thomas and James are the only characters to speak in every special. They, along with Gordon are the only characters to *appear* in every special.
* According to the online video "Still the Best of Friends", the official reason Henry relocated to Vicarstown was to be closer to his work, referring to his taking trains to the Mainland in Tale of the Brave and Journey Beyond Sodor.
* Although he does not have a Fowler tender in the television series, some merchandise of him have him with said tender.
* Henry is the only former Steam Team member who does not appear in the Meet the Steam Team videos.
* Henry was called *Henri* in the French dub of the first seven series.
* Henry's original whistle was the same shape as Gordon's.
* Throughout the eleventh series, Michael Brandon portrayed Henry with a Southern accent.
* Since 2009, Henry spoke with a faint New Jersey accent in the US dub.
* Henry's normal whistle sound was reused for a few different engines:
	+ Emily had Henry's whistle sound, but in the eighth to half of the seventeenth series and some merchandise and some games.
	+ Gordon had Henry's whistle sound, but in the ninth series episodes Percy and the Oil Painting and Thomas Tries His Best.
	+ James had Henry's whistle sound in The Biggest Present of All and Kevin's Cranky Friend.
	+ Edward had Henry's whistle sound at Tidmouth Sheds at Drayton Manor Theme Park only, since 2014, however his normal whistle sound can be heard when the Thomas' Anthem and Every Cloud has a Sliver Lining still plays.
	+ Toby had Henry's whistle sound in the Misty Island Rescue (PC game), despite not having it on-screen and having a bell.
* Henry is the second engine to gain a number in The Railway Series.
* Henry had a total of eighteen facial expressions, one of which (an exhausted face) was never shown on screen. However, his exhausted face was on his model at the British Museum during the 70th Anniversary.
* Henry's CGI model was reused in Big World Big Adventures for many other background engines.

## Quotes

* **Don't worry, Hiro. You taught me to keep on puffing, so that is what I'm going to do!**
* **I wasn't scared of that ghost train! And yes, I have seen it, but it didn't frighten me at all.**