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This article is about the Railway Series book. You may be looking for the episode.


“That's not right! The Fat Controller wants me to be green with red stripes, not red all over, like....like tomato sauce!”
― Henry blustering to the workmen

Henry and the Express is the thirty-seventh book of The Railway Series.

Foreword

Dear Friends,
When I went to see Henry recently he was moaning about not having had a book to himself for ages.

"Yes," I agreed, "There's the story about patching up your smokebox..."

"And the time my wheel broke," he interrupted.

"What about when you came out of the Works before you'd been properly painted?" I said.

"You wouldn't...!" he said.

But I would and I have. It might teach Henry not to try to tell me what to do.
The Author

Stories

Out of Puff

The North Western Railway starts using a new type of coal, which creates more ashes and gives the engines indigestion. One day, Henry cannot make it past Wellsworth. Henry's crew discover his smokebox door is bent from the hot ashes, so they make papier-mâché to fix the gap. Henry gets home safely, but Donald and Douglas tease him by making breathless noises in the shed that night.

Overhaul

Henry is due for an overhaul, so the Fat Controller arranges for him to double-head the Express with James to Crovan's Gate. James is apprehensive but feels better after they make good time up Gordon's Hill - up to the point where things begin flying from Henry, hitting James and the coaches. No one is hurt, but the debris broke a carriage window, and both crews find that a steel rim from Henry's wheel has fallen off. James, trying to make light of the situation, jokes that Henry needs to be "retired".

Sliding Scales

With Henry away, the others take turns at pulling the Flying Kipper. It is James' turn and he is in a bad mood. He grudgingly sets off to Tidmouth Harbour, but just before he starts, a forklift spills its load onto the rails and fish goes everywhere. It is picked up, but the oil from the fish makes James slip helplessly. It is not until men hose the rails and put sand on them that James can move again.

Henry Sees Red

Henry is almost ready to return to work, but the workmen have to put an undercoat of red paint on him. Before they can put green on top, an emergency at Tidmouth forces Henry to take the Express. The brakes on Henry's last coach stop the train at Wellsworth, spoiling the chances of a good run at Gordon's Hill, and Henry has to uncouple it himself. Henry, however, is determined, and when he makes it to Barrow-in-Furness on time the Fat Controller rewards him with his normal green coat.

Characters

Full book

Out of Puff

Overhaul

  • Henry
  • James
  • Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III
  • Gordon (mentioned)
  • Bear (mentioned)

Sliding Scales

  • James
  • Henry (mentioned)
  • Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III (mentioned)
  • Gordon (cameo)
  • Duck (cameo)
  • Donald and Douglas (cameo)
  • Oliver (cameo)

Henry Sees Red

  • Henry
  • Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III
  • Edward (does not speak)
  • Donald (does not speak)
  • Gordon (cameo)
  • James (cameo)
  • Duck (cameo)
  • Douglas (cameo)
  • Oliver (cameo)

Locations

Out of Puff

Overhaul

Sliding Scales

  • Island of Sodor
    • Tidmouth Sheds
    • Tidmouth Harbour
    • Crovan's Gate Works (mentioned)
  • The Mainland (mentioned)
    • London (mentioned)

Henry Sees Red

  • Crovan's Gate Works
  • Tidmouth
    • Tidmouth Sheds
  • Wellsworth
  • Gordon's Hill

Trivia

  • This book marks the last of a few things:
    • The last book of The Railway Series where James appears in all four stories.
    • The last appearance of Gordon's Hill in The Railway Series.
    • The last appearance of The Works Diesel in The Railway Series.
  • In Out of Puff, Henry makes a reference to the story Super Rescue.
  • The events of this book take place in 1992.
  • Out of Puff is based on a real event that occurred on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Line.
  • Overhaul is based on a real event from The Railway Magazine in November 1924 to a Glasgow-London express near Weedon, Daventry, Northamptonshire.
  • Sliding Scales is based on a real event from the 1950's to a London and North Eastern Railway 2-6-0 following a fish train on the gradient to Forth Bridge.
  • This book has been translated into Norwegian (under the title Henry og ekspresstoget), and is the only Norwegian translated Christopher Awdry book.

Goofs

  • In Overhaul:
    • When Henry stops after his tyre breaks, the Peel Godred branch appears in the background. However, the way the line is set out implies that the line runs underneath the main line instead of joining up with it.
    • It was said that the new coal made the engines' smoke black, but in the fourth illustration, Douglas still has white smoke.
  • In Sliding Scales, when the crate breaks, there is no ice in it to keep the fish cold; but strangely, in the next illustration, there is a small puddle of water on the platform, assumed to be melted ice.
  • Henry is missing part of his valve gear throughout the whole book.
  • The 2013 reprint incorrectly states this book was published in 1987.

In Other Languages

Language Title
Norwegian Henry og ekspresstoget

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