Overheated Henry

Overheated Henry is a magazine story. The first part of the story is titled Edward at the Works, and the third part of this story is titled Delicate Handling.

Plot[]

One morning in the sheds, James and Gordon are discussing Edward. James says he is too old to be Really Useful to which Gordon replies is the reason he works on a branch line. James says that he could not even do that properly as he is currently in The Works. Henry - who has been listening in - quips that Edward is so old that he will probably get scrapped. James and Gordon laugh at Henry and inform him that he is just as old and nearly as useless as Edward, which leaves Henry feeling very hurt.

Soon, Edward returns and he sees Henry looking upset and asks him what is wrong. Henry informs him of what Gordon and James had said and wants to prove them wrong. Edward informs Henry to be careful as he could end up at The Works just like him. Henry is now even crosser and goes faster than he has ever gone before to collect his train. His driver ends up stopping him due to a smoky smell; Henry's valve rods have overheated and need to be oiled and cooled down.

Henry soon sets off again but he is still cross and arrives back in the yard too fast. His driver applies the brakes but it was too late and Henry crashes into Duck, who destroys the set of buffers in front of him. The Fat Controller is very disappointed in Henry and informs him that he and Duck will both have to go to The Works, causing an engine shortage. Henry feels sorry but does not mind going to The Works. His mood soon changes when an engineer informs him that his parts are hard to come by and he will be waiting for a long time.