Recap / The Railway Series B 5 Troublesome Engines

Dear Friends,
News from the Main Line has not been good. The Fat Controller has been having trouble. A short while ago, he gave Henry a coat of green paint, but as soon as he got his old colour back again, Henry became conceited. Gordon and James, too, have been getting above themselves.

I am glad to say, however, that the Fat Controller has, quite kindly but very firmly, put them in their place. And now the trains are running as usual.

I hope you will like meeting Percy. We shall be hearing more of him later.
The Author

— Foreword

Troublesome Engines is the fifth book of The Railway Series published in 1950. This contains four stories:

• Henry and the Elephant: Henry is called out to clear a blockage in his tunnel, but when he goes in, an elephant pushes him back out of the tunnel! The workmen give the elephant some water, but Henry surprises it by letting off steam and it sprays water all over him.
• Tenders and Turntables: Gordon is in a bad mood and when he goes to be turned around for his next train he unbalances the turntable and has to take the train backwards. Thomas and James tease him, but later James is spun around by the wind on the turntable. The big engines have had enough, and make a plan.
• Trouble in the Shed: The big engines refuse to get their coaches and so Edward is brought in to shunt for them. However, poor Edward is met with hostility and so the Fat Controller buys a saddletank engine, which he christens Percy. The big engines refuse to come out, so the Fat Controller shuts them up and brings Thomas to work with Edward while Percy runs his branch line.
• Percy Runs Away: The big engines finally see sense and agree to get their coaches ready, so the Fat Controller lets Thomas, Edward and Percy play on the branch line. Thomas takes Annie and Clarabel for a run and Edward takes some trucks to the quarry, leaving Percy alone. He strays onto the points, and Gordon scares him when he rushes into the junction. Percy runs away, and eventually, exhausted, runs into a sandbank. Gordon later commends him for preventing an accident and Percy becomes the new station pilot at Tidmouth.

The book contains examples of:

• Achilles in His Tent: Gordon, Henry, and James start doing this by going on a strike. As a result for this (and for their mistreatment of Edward), the Fat Controller locks them up in their sheds as punishment.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: This happens to Henry when he’s painted green again.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The engines discuss their misfortunes in the end of "Tenders and Turntables" - Henry wheeshed by an Elephant, Gordon pulling the coaches backwards, James spinning on the turntable, and all three engines having to shunt in dirty sidings.
• Author Tract: The depiction of the tender engines' strike gives the strong impression that the Reverend was not a fan of unions.
• Beast in the Building: Henry is sent to investigate a blocked railway tunnel. It turns out the blockage is a live circus elephant.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Percy, much to the big engines' annoyance.
• Break the Cutie: During their strike in "Trouble in the Shed," Gordon, James, and Henry pick on Edward for shunting "like common tank engines" and call him "black wheels". This makes Edward feel unhappy.
• Bully Hunter: The three tender engines hiss rudely at Edward for interfering with their strike. When Percy arrives, he responds to this by wheeshing loudly at Henry, sending him back into the sheds startled.
• Circus Episode: "Henry and the Elephant".
• Creator Cameo: The illustrator, C. Reginald Dalby, briefly appears in "Tenders and Turntables", in the picture where Gordon has to take a train backwards. He's the man with the suitcase, while his daughter is walking a dog.
• The Freelance Shame Squad: Thomas and James laugh at Gordon having to pull the Express backwards after the wind prevents him from being turned around on the turntable. Then it's Gordon's turn to laugh at James for spinning around on the turntable due to the wind.
• Heel Realization: The end of the "Trouble in the Shed" shows Gordon, Henry, and James locked up in the sheds realizing how silly they were for going on strike.
• Hypocrite: James saying that Edward has black wheels; take a look at James' own wheels.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gordon, who was previously in disgrace after the strike, comes to Percy's aid after his runaway and praises him for preventing the accident.
• Kick the Dog: The big engines (particularly Gordon) rudely hissed at Edward for interfering with their strike and said he had black wheels.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The Fat Controller shuts up Gordon, Henry, and James in the sheds for a few days for going on strike as well as mistreating Edward.
• No Sympathy: In the first story. The coaches showed no concern about the big engines complaining about having to fetch them by themselves:
  Coaches: You're lazy and slack! You're lazy and slack!
  • It's averted at the end of the first story, where Gordon and James sympathized with Henry over his ordeal with the elephant.
• Oh, Crap!: Both Percy and Gordon when they realize they’re on the same line, with Gordon about to charge into Percy.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite voicing his distain for the strike, the Fat Controller tries repeatedly to appease the situation with the tender engines and their extra work. He gives them new coats of paint as reward and sends Edward to help shunt before eventually buying another tank engine to act as new station pilot. It’s only when the big engines resort to bullying Edward for being a "black wheel" that he resorts to punishing them.
• Runaway Train: Percy himself after being frightened of causing an accident.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Gordon believed that he was given a tender to show how important he was.
• Status Quo Is God: Henry regains his green paint before the start of the book.
• Stealth Insult: The big engines tell Edward he has "black wheels", a play on "blackleg", referring to someone who crosses a picket line.
• Stealth Pun: Edward is labelled a "black wheel" since shunting is supposedly beneath tender engines. However not only is James a mixed traffic engine efficient for shunting, but also has literal black wheels.
• Strike Episode: Gordon, Henry, and James went on a strike in "Trouble in the Shed", which they got punished for it.
• Tempting Fate: Gordon warns James that he will stick on the turntable just like he did, but James assures Gordon that he won't because he isn't as "fat" as Gordon. And James is right, except that turntable spins around too easily thanks to the strong wind and James spins around like a top. Gordon looks on with an amused look on his face.
• Terrible Trio: Gordon, Henry, and James establish this. There's a reason for the book's title "Troublesome Engines".
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Percy didn't pay attention to Edward and almost collided with Gordon after forgetting to whistle to the signalman, causing him to panic and reverse without his driver and fireman.
• Ungrateful Bastards:
  • In "Henry and the Elephant", the Fat Controller gave Gordon and Henry new coats of paint (with Henry choosing to be painted green again), but that didn't stop them from grumbling about shunting their own trains.
  • Edward gets coaches for the big engines, and they thank him by hissing him, and saying he has black wheels.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story:
  • "Henry and the Elephant" is based on a real event that occurred in India of a wild elephant that blocked a tunnel.
  • James' incident with the turntable is inspired by an event that occurred in 1900 at a railway station in Garsdale Head, Cumbria, England.
  • "Percy Runs Away" is based on a real event that occurred on Christmas Eve, 1910, at Hawes Junction.
• Whole Episode Flashback: The stories take place in 1926.
• You Are Grounded!: The Fat Controller has Gordon, Henry and James shut up in the shed for their actions.

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