Henry Gets the Express

"Express coming through!" "But that's my line!"

- Henry and Gordon

Henry Gets the Express is the third episode of the twentieth season.

Plot
One morning, Gordon is not ready to leave the sheds, as his firebox had not been cleaned out the previous night. Thomas tells Gordon not to be surprised if another engine replaces him for the express and suggests that Henry could do it based on his own experience. However, Gordon doubts that Henry would be capable of doing it, claiming that things have changed since the last time he pulled the express. When Henry becomes nervous, Thomas cheers him up, and the two engines leave the sheds.

Thomas brings the coaches to Knapford, where the Fat Controller is waiting for Gordon. Thomas tells him that Gordon is not ready yet and suggests that Henry fill in for him, to which the Fat Controller agrees, believing it will teach Gordon a lesson.

Later, Henry sets off with the express. At first, he is a little nervous but soon starts to enjoy himself. Meanwhile, Gordon finally has had his firebox cleaned out and arrives at the station to fetch his train, but finds the Fat Controller there instead. The Fat Controller scolds Gordon for coming in late, and assigns him to pull Henry's goods for the rest of the day, much to Gordon's horror.

Meanwhile, Henry is making good time with the express. His passengers and the railway staff are impressed by his affability. Gordon, on the other hand, is not enjoying his work, and grumpily arrives at Brendam Docks with his goods train, only to be given a train of coal as soon as he arrives. As Gordon is taking the coal train, he stops at a junction where Henry passes by with the express, and becomes annoyed when Henry mimics him.

When Gordon returns to Knapford, he asks the Fat Controller if he can go back in pulling the express, but the Fat Controller says that he has to go to the Blue Mountain Quarry. Rheneas greets Gordon when he arrives at the quarry, but Gordon is still in a bad mood. As Gordon begins to leave, the trucks put on their brakes, and then release them, causing Gordon to jump the points and hit a buffer stop. Gordon is finally fed up with his work, and orders to be uncoupled at once so he can get back to his shed.

That night, Henry returns to the sheds and tells Gordon that he will be more than happy to let him pull the express again. Gordon begins to grumble about the work he had to do. The Fat Controller arrives at the sheds and scolds Gordon for not doing all of his jobs earlier that day. He then orders Gordon to pull the Flying Kipper as punishment, and threatens to make Henry the permanent express engine if he refuses to do it. Henry and Thomas tease Gordon by claiming that the Flying Kipper is not an easy job, referencing the time when James had an accident with the flying kipper twice, but Gordon is determined to prove them wrong and leaves the sheds.

When Gordon returns to the sheds the next morning, the Fat Controller praises him for successfully delivering the Kipper on time and tells him that he can now go back to being the express engine again. Gordon is delighted, but when the other engines notice how smelly he is, he quickly leaves to for a wash-down. Henry jokes that Gordon is, "the stinky express," and all the other engines laugh.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Porter
 * Salty
 * Rheneas
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Kellsthorpe Road Stationmaster
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Percy (cameo)
 * Emily (cameo)
 * Paxton (cameo)
 * Philip (cameo)
 * Skarloey (cameo)
 * Peter Sam (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * The Blond-haired Boy (cameo)
 * The Lady with the Big Hat (cameo)
 * Albert's Wife (cameo)

A passenger also speaks. He is voiced by Rob Rackstraw in both dubs.

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Knapford
 * M.C. BUNN
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * Brendam Docks
 * Blue Mountain Quarry

Trivia

 * References to the seventeenth season episode, The Smelly Kipper and the special, Tale of the Brave are made.
 * John Hasler takes over the role of Rheneas from Ben Small in both dubs starting from this episode onwards.
 * This is the first time Gordon interacts with the Skarloey Railway Engines since the fourth season.
 * When Gordon moans about having to take Henry's trucks, he references the first season episode, Edward and Gordon when he says "A goods train, a goods train. The shame of it".
 * When Gordon attempts to pull away the trucks from the Blue Mountain Quarry and tells them that he'll have none of their nonsense, the trucks reply with "We'll give him nonsense" referring to the second season episode, Percy's Predicament.
 * When Thomas tells Sir Topham Hatt that Henry has hauled the express before, this marks references to the first season episodes, Edward, Gordon and Henry, The Flying Kipper, Whistles and Sneezes, and Off the Rails, the third season episode, The Trouble with Mud, the eighth season episode, Henry and the Wishing Tree, and the ninth season episode, Respect for Gordon.
 * Henry's line is similar to Thomas' from the sixth season episode, Thomas the Jet Engine.

Goofs

 * When Gordon pulls up next to Cranky, his brake van changes from a grey one to a brown one. Also when Gordon couples up to the coal trucks, his previous train on the other track disappears.
 * Paxton can be seen on the upper terraces of the Blue Mountain Quarry, but there are no standard gauge rails up there. As the trucks say "Not so useful!" Paxton disappears, then reappears in the following shot.
 * When Gordon is asked to pull "the Flying Kipper" and he reverses back into the shed to sulk, he goes back way too far, indicating he passed the buffers at the back of the shed.
 * When Sir Topham Hatt says "I think you'll find it's my decision which jobs you do, Gordon!", James is out of scale.
 * The narrator says the episode's title before it appears.

UK

 * Tales from the Rails

US

 * Ultimate Friendship Adventures