Recap / The Railway Series B6: "Henry the Green Engine"

Dear Friends,
Here is more news from the Region. All the engines now have numbers as well as names; you will see them in the pictures. They are as follows: Thomas 1, Edward 2, Henry 3, Gordon 4, James 5, Percy 6.

I expect you were sorry for Henry, who was often ill and unable to work. He gave Sir Topham Hatt (who is, of course, our Fat Controller) a lot of worry. Now Henry has a new shape and is ready for anything. These stories tell you all about it.
The Author

— Foreword

Henry the Green Engine is the sixth book of The Railway Series that was published in 1951. This is the only book to feature five stories as opposed to the usual four.

• Coal: Henry is feeling ill and the Fat Controller fears that he will have to be replaced if they cannot find a cure. Henry's fireman tells the Fat Controller that Henry's firebox is too small and can't make enough steam. The Fat Controller arranges for some Welsh coal to be brought for Henry, and, as soon as he begins using it, Henry feels better.
• The Flying Kipper: Fishing boats often dock at Tidmouth and send their fish to be sold on a train dubbed "The Flying Kipper". It's Henry's turn to take it. Henry makes good time, but an incorrect signal sets him on collision course with a goods train. After the accident, Henry is sent to the works at Crewe and comes back better than ever before and no longer needing Welsh coal.
• Gordon's Whistle: Gordon is jealous that Henry got rebuilt and complains that Henry whistles too much. The next day, Gordon jams his whistle and keeps emitting a loud whine. Gordon leaves his train and two fitters knock his whistle valve into place, but Henry doesn't forget the incident and teases Gordon.
• Percy and the Trousers: One cold morning, Percy complains that he wants a scarf. When he goes to shunt some coaches, he approaches the platform so quietly that he runs over a trolley, scattering luggage everywhere. The Fat Controller, furious, seizes his top-hat off Percy's lamp-iron and sends Percy away with a pair of his trousers coiled around his funnel!
• Henry's Sneeze: Henry is enjoying himself in the countryside when some silly boys drop stones on him from a bridge. His crew concoct a plan to get revenge, and on the return run they block his smokebox so that Henry sprays smoke and ashes at the boys. Although Henry has never sneezed again, there have been no more boys with stones.

The book contains examples of:

• Art Evolution: All the engines have numbers painted on them starting with this book.
• Artifact Title: Despite the book being about Henry, two of the stories primarily focus on Gordon and Percy respectively as the titles suggest (Gordon's Whistle and Percy and the Trousers).
• Ash Face: After Henry sneezes all over the naughty boys, they all end up covered in ashes.
• Bowdlerize: The boys in "Henry's Sneeze" were originally described as being "black as niggers". In 1972, the text was changed to "black as soot" due to changing sensibilities.
• Downer Beginning: The first story "Coal" begins with Henry's steaming problems at their worst and the Fat Controller stating that they may have to replace him if he can't be fixed.
• Downer Ending: In "Percy and the Trousers", Percy gets in an accident with the baggage trolley, and a furious Fat Controller sends him away with his trousers on his funnel.
• Emergency Transformation: Henry gets a new shape at the end of "The Flying Kipper".
• The Freelance Shame Squad: In the final illustration of "Percy and the Trousers", some of the passengers seem to be waving amused at Percy, who has been sent off in disgrace with a pair of trousers stuck on his funnel.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Gordon towards Henry.
• Help, I'm Stuck!: When Henry crashes in "The Flying Kipper", his driver and fireman jump clear; the fireman lands headfirst in the snow and struggles so much that the driver can't pull him out. This can be seen as a Funny Background Event in the image of Henry crashing.
• Ironic Echo:
  • Henry refers to Thomas as "lazybones". Thomas called him that in "Thomas and the Guard".
  • Then Henry says to Gordon the same thing he said about whistling loudly at stations: "It isn't wrong, but we just don't do it."
• Kids Are Cruel: The boys who throw stones at Henry's coaches. Henry soon taught them a lesson by sneezing at them.
• Nice Guy: Percy and Edward in "Gordon's Whistle", as both of them make it clear they have missed Henry, and Percy even tells Henry he likes his whistle, which Gordon has just been so nasty about.
• No Sympathy: Henry laments his illness until James tells him that he doesn't work hard enough.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Though The Fat Controller makes clear he’ll have to find a replacement engine if Henry can’t run properly, he takes direct measures to find and mend his steaming issues, ultimately paying for expensive Welsh Coal. After Henry falls victim to a horrific crash afterwards, the Fat Controller then pulls strings to get him fixed in Crewe, leaving Henry a powerful and efficient engine even without his new coal.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Percy and the Trousers; while many stories in the series were based on real-life events, this was the only story to come with a bibliographical reference, having come from another book by British railway history author C. Hamilton Ellis.
• Skewed Priorities: The fireman yells at Henry for ruining his cocoa, unconcerned about his well-being during the accident.
• Time Skip: The events of "Coal" take place in 1934 and the remaining four stories take place in 1935.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story:
  • "The Flying Kipper" is based on a real event that occurred in 1876 at Abbot's Ripton in Huntingdonshire (now in Cambridgeshire), England, UK.
  • "Percy and the Trousers" is inspired by an event which took place at a railway station in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK.
• We Can Rebuild Him: After his accident, Henry is sent to Crewe, not only for accident damage repair, but to have his faulty firebox replaced.
• Whole Episode Flashback: The book is set in 1934 and 1935.
• Who's Laughing Now?:
  • In "Coal", when the fresher-feeling Henry makes it to the station before Thomas, one of the engines most unsympathetic about his illness, he’s sure to heckle him with the same words as he had said earlier before leaving him in the dust in a very jolly mood. Thomas is left speechless.
  • In "Gordon's Whistle", Gordon, bitter about Henry's rebuild and taking express duties from him, makes petty criticisms about him whistling too much. Only shortly afterwards, Gordon's whistle gets jammed, and he has to run a train with it running non-stop. Henry is more than a little amused by this.

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