Air date: October 3rd, 1998
One evening, Henry is working late with Edward, and an owl hoots. Edward warns Henry that when the owl hoots, a mist will roll in soon, along with a ghost. Henry scoffs at the story and sets off with his goods train, but later to his surprise, a mist does roll in. He has to slow at an amber signal, and after seeing a closed crossing gate, a red signal, a coat discarded on a tree branch, and a light flickering at a station, Henry's crew decide to turn back. The next day, they discover that a nearby viaduct was unsafe and would have collapsed if they had tried to cross. Later, Henry's driver informs him that the viaduct has been repaired, and they can try to cross again that night.
While preparing to leave with his train, Henry gets spooked after hearing an owl hoot and Gordon speed by. The trucks tease him, but later down the old line, they see the crossing gates close and signal turn red by themselves, and they become spooked too. They surge forward through the gates and hit a landslide, plunging into a ravine. Soon, Old Bailey the fogman arrives on a handcart and reprimands Henry and his crew for not heeding his warnings. Henry's driver apologizes, and to make up for it, Sir Topham Hatt reopens the station and Old Bailey is made the stationmaster.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Big "SHUT UP!": Henry tells the trucks this for teasing him for being scared.
- Blatant Lies:Orange Truck: Oh, look! Henry's spooked!
(the other Troublesome Trucks laugh)
Henry: Be quiet! I'm not scared!
Narrator: But he was. - Bowdlerise: Henry calling the owl a “stupid bird”. Some versions of the episode omit the word “stupid”.
- Cool Old Guy: Old Bailey.
- Handcar Pursuit: Towards the end of this episode, Old Bailey chases after Henry on a handcar to try to warn him about the unsafe viaduct.
- Hypocrite: The trucks mock Henry for feeling scared, yet they become spooked when they pass the old line.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The trucks teased Henry for being scared, but as they soon pass the old line with the closing crossing gates and a red signal, they become scared too. If that's not enough, they all surged to the landslide and plunge into the ravine while Henry's unscathed.
