Henry the Green Engine
Encyclopedia
Henry the Green Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic 4-6-0
steam locomotive
from The Railway Series
books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry
, and the spin-off children's television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
.
Henry lives on the fictitious Island of Sodor with many other locomotives, including Thomas the Tank Engine
. He is engine number 3 on the North Western Railway
, and was one of the first engines to be described, appearing in the first book. Henry is a little smaller than Gordon the Big Engine
, who also appeared in the first book.
Although he is a hard worker, Henry can be prone to illness, which many engines put off as laziness.
Henry's first (mis-)adventure was in 'The Sad Story of Henry', the third story in the Railway Series book The Three Railway Engines. In this story he went into a tunnel and refused to come out due to fears that the rain would spoil his paint. As punishment, the Fat Controller ordered that he was bricked up in the tunnel forever. Weeks later, he was eventually let out to help Edward
pull Gordon's
express train, after Gordon burst a safety valve
.
Henry was originally a failed prototype engine, who as the result of a small firebox (which was a similar shape to Gordon's) was often ill and a poor steamer. The Fat Controller gave him special Welsh coal, which helped. But worse was to come – Henry had an accident while pulling the express fish train known as the Flying Kipper. The Fat Controller sent Henry to the works at Crewe, where they rebuilt him into his present shape. Henry was given a new firebox which gave him a similar specification to an LMS
Class 5MT "Black Five" locomotive. This cured his illness completely.
Henry now works on the main line. He can pull coaches and trucks equally well, and sometimes even hauls the Express when Gordon is not available. He is still the engine responsible for the Flying Kipper, and in the television series he also brings the post from the Mainland.
He has been in the television series from the start, and in recent seasons has been identified as part of the Steam Team, the eight central characters.
There have been two Railway Series books devoted to him, namely Henry the Green Engine and Henry and the Express.
Awdry's original idea had been to write Henry out of the series, hence the character's illness. But by the sixth book, Henry the Green Engine, he had decided against such a drastic measure. He instead decided to have the character involved in a serious accident, allowing him to be rebuilt into a Class 5MT which, being a real locomotive, would effectively force Dalby to be consistent.
Accounts differ as to when the accident actually took place. In The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways the Rev. Awdry states that it occurred in 1935 (when Stanier 5MTs were still being built). However, Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, by Christopher Awdry, states that it took place in 1951, the year the book was published. The latter is not necessarily an oversight on Christopher's part, because the stories suggest it could just as easily be either. Certainly the dates listed in The Island of Sodor are all consistent with one another, and suggest that for the earlier books, the events on the railway happened many years before the books were published. On the other hand, some instances mentioned in these books would indicate that the stories were more likely set around the time of publication.
, the question of whether there have been two Henrys or one will always have a paradoxical answer and will likely remain unanswered.
The same book featured a certain amount of retcon
to explain Henry's old shape in the first place. The explanation devised was that he was an experimental locomotive built according to plans stolen from Sir Nigel Gresley. Owing to a mistake, the wrong plans were taken and the locomotive built was so riddled with faults that the only person who could be persuaded to buy it was the Fat Controller (then the Fat Director), who at the time was desperate for any locomotive he could get. The name of the thief is never revealed. The Fat Controller claims that he wanted an Atlantic (a locomotive with a 4-4-2 wheel arrangement). This latter point is worth noting, as William Middleton, the very first Railway Series artist, portrayed Henry as this type of engine, as did Awdry's initial sketches.
The Island of Sodor also features a biography of the Fat Controller, which mentions that he was apprenticed with Stanier at Swindon Works
. It is possible that this is another piece of retcon to explain how he was able to have Henry rebuilt so easily – something that even Rev. W. Awdry admitted was "a mystery".
In the book Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, it is said that Henry looks very much like a Stanier 5MT
, which suggests that he is not totally identical to one of these engines. It is not clear why Christopher Awdry should have felt the need to contradict his father, who was, of course, the original author, but it may be simply a result of copy-editing errors and publication deadlines – there is a second error (or misprint) in the same book, the character Mavis is correctly described as a Drewry Class 04
, yet is inaccurately said to be an 0-4-0.
. This could have been done for ease of the changeover to his "Black Five"-esque appearance. When the new models were made in 2000, they gave Henry a cutoff splasher approximately where his old shape's tapered boiler and old cutoff splasher was. Also, if looked at closely, when Henry is wrecked, his top feed from his new shape is already fitted. In another continuity error, during a head-on shot after Henry has returned from his Crewe rebuild, his old shape (without external steam pipes) is used.
Henry was never portrayed in the TV series as being blue, as he was in some early Railway Series stories; this was likely done so that young viewers would not confuse him with Gordon (as young readers had once done), as well as to save production costs.
Old Shape:
New Shape:
First appearing in 1934, "Black Fives" were Sir William Stanier’s most rugged and versatile design. They were similar to his "Jubilee" 5P express passenger loco, but with slightly smaller driving wheels to give it ability to haul freight as well as passengers. They show the hallmarks of Stanier’s distinctive standard LMS style, a practice he brought with him from his previous employers, the GWR of Churchward and Collett, with the purpose of using interchangeable parts on very different locos. Stanier’s ideas led the way for British Railways standard designs of the 1950s.
The model Henry made by the Rev W Awdry is said to have had as many problems as his fictional counterpart, according to the Reverend himself in this text from his Model Railway Scrapbook:
"A Graham Farish (1950 Henry) adapted. I had a lot of trouble with this loco at first. Bought second hand, it reached me in a deplorable condition. But, when all the dirt and fluff had been removed from the wheels, gears and motor, it proved quite a useful engine. The main disadvantage was that one had to start it with full regulator away, then with throttle down immediately afterwards. This made smooth starting impossible, and shunting difficult."
It is said that this model "did not make it into preservation"
From The Thomas the Tank Engine Man. Used with the approval of Brian Sibley
Hornby, meanwhile use a tool for Henry that was first used for their Black 5 in 1973. It was converted to make Henry after the company upgraded its Black 5 model with a new super-detailed tool.
. The story was attacked in 1972 due to the fact that it described the boys in question to have been rendered "as black as niggers."
The story was considered so controversial that it was actually reported in the national press. Awdry himself claimed that it was a case of oversensitivity on the part of the race relations board; a complaint that was misinterpreted by some members of the public as meaning that he was a racist. To solve the problem, he changed the offending sentence to "as black as soot", which has been used in subsequent editions of the book.
' was released. This series featured a number of original episodes that had not been adapted from The Railway Series
stories, some of which annoyed Awdry with their lack of realism. The story that particularly angered him was called 'Henry's Forest'.
This episode begins by explaining that Henry's favourite place on Sodor is a forest
through which the line runs. He likes to stop here and admire the scenery. A storm damages the forest, making Henry sad. The episode ends happily, with new trees being planted to replace the ones lost.
Awdry's complaints were directed at two aspects of the episode in particular. One was that it was unrealistic to have a railway running through a forest, and that sparks from an engine's funnel could cause a wildfire. Britt Allcroft
, the producer
of the series, countered this aspect by claiming that she had seen a number of lines do the same thing.
The other aspect was that Henry stops to admire the view without alerting the signalman
, which was in direct contravention of British Railways' Rule 55
. This, Awdry argued, would never be allowed to happen in real life, and would be highly unsafe.
In the Season 5 story 'James & the Trouble with Trees' some trees are removed because 'The Fat Controller says they're too close to the line.' This is evident in Season 8 story 'Henry and the Wishing Tree', in which the trees are further back. It seems likely that these changes were a response to Awdry's complaints.
From Hero of the Rails
onwards, Henry is voiced by Kerry Shale
(US) and Keith Wickham
(UK) (who also voices Edward, Gordon, James & Percy).
in the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad
. In the film, he is the only steam engine to have an American accent, and he appears to still suffer from boiler trouble. The major difference between this incarnation and the pre-rebuild version of the television series is that his sickness is cured by "Island of Sodor coal" rather than Welsh.
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
from The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry
Christopher Awdry
Christopher Awdry is an English author best known for his contributions to The Railway Series of books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, which was started by his father, the Rev. W. Awdry. He has also produced children's books based on a number of other railways, as well as non-fiction articles...
, and the spin-off children's television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
Thomas and Friends is a British children's television series, first broadcast on the ITV network in September 1984. Until 2003, it was named Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. This series was shot on 35mm film...
.
Henry lives on the fictitious Island of Sodor with many other locomotives, including Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
. He is engine number 3 on the North Western Railway
North Western Railway (fictional)
The North Western Railway is the main railway company featured in The Railway Series of children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry. Although the company's name has never been specifically stated in the books, it was mentioned as such in tie-in books such as The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and...
, and was one of the first engines to be described, appearing in the first book. Henry is a little smaller than Gordon the Big Engine
Gordon the Big Engine
Gordon the Big Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tender locomotive in The Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry. Gordon is painted blue and carries the number 4. Gordon views himself as the most important engine because he is the biggest and he pulls the Express...
, who also appeared in the first book.
Although he is a hard worker, Henry can be prone to illness, which many engines put off as laziness.
Henry's first (mis-)adventure was in 'The Sad Story of Henry', the third story in the Railway Series book The Three Railway Engines. In this story he went into a tunnel and refused to come out due to fears that the rain would spoil his paint. As punishment, the Fat Controller ordered that he was bricked up in the tunnel forever. Weeks later, he was eventually let out to help Edward
Edward the Blue Engine
Edward the Blue Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic steam locomotive from The Railway Series children's books by the Rev W. Awdry, and the related TV Series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. He is a blue 4-4-0 tender engine with red stripes, about the same size as James the Red Engine, and has...
pull Gordon's
Gordon the Big Engine
Gordon the Big Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tender locomotive in The Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry. Gordon is painted blue and carries the number 4. Gordon views himself as the most important engine because he is the biggest and he pulls the Express...
express train, after Gordon burst a safety valve
Safety valve
A safety valve is a valve mechanism for the automatic release of a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits....
.
Henry was originally a failed prototype engine, who as the result of a small firebox (which was a similar shape to Gordon's) was often ill and a poor steamer. The Fat Controller gave him special Welsh coal, which helped. But worse was to come – Henry had an accident while pulling the express fish train known as the Flying Kipper. The Fat Controller sent Henry to the works at Crewe, where they rebuilt him into his present shape. Henry was given a new firebox which gave him a similar specification to an LMS
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
Class 5MT "Black Five" locomotive. This cured his illness completely.
Henry now works on the main line. He can pull coaches and trucks equally well, and sometimes even hauls the Express when Gordon is not available. He is still the engine responsible for the Flying Kipper, and in the television series he also brings the post from the Mainland.
He has been in the television series from the start, and in recent seasons has been identified as part of the Steam Team, the eight central characters.
There have been two Railway Series books devoted to him, namely Henry the Green Engine and Henry and the Express.
Henry's Rebuild
Behind the scenes, Rev. W. Awdry had a great deal of trouble with the illustrators' depiction of Henry. He was unhappy with the way C. Reginald Dalby had portrayed the character, as he looked almost identical to Gordon, especially when he was painted blue at the end of Book 1 and in Books 2-4. In one illustration in Tank Engine Thomas Again, he looks identical to Gordon. To make things worse, the character was portrayed inconsistently, often having several different appearances within the space of a single story: in most of Dalby's illustrations Henry was portrayed as a 4-6-0, but occasionally he becomes a 4–6–2 instead.Awdry's original idea had been to write Henry out of the series, hence the character's illness. But by the sixth book, Henry the Green Engine, he had decided against such a drastic measure. He instead decided to have the character involved in a serious accident, allowing him to be rebuilt into a Class 5MT which, being a real locomotive, would effectively force Dalby to be consistent.
Accounts differ as to when the accident actually took place. In The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways the Rev. Awdry states that it occurred in 1935 (when Stanier 5MTs were still being built). However, Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, by Christopher Awdry, states that it took place in 1951, the year the book was published. The latter is not necessarily an oversight on Christopher's part, because the stories suggest it could just as easily be either. Certainly the dates listed in The Island of Sodor are all consistent with one another, and suggest that for the earlier books, the events on the railway happened many years before the books were published. On the other hand, some instances mentioned in these books would indicate that the stories were more likely set around the time of publication.
Technical controversy
There is a certain amount of debate as to the nature of Henry's rebuild, caused by the book The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways. It was written to provide some historical background to the world of The Railway Series and to correct pictorial inconsistencies that had occurred in the earlier volumes. In this book, the Rev. W. Awdry claims that the pre-rebuild and post-rebuild Henry are actually two completely separate engines. But the stories do not indicate this since he still seems familiar with events that happens before the crash, and the other engines certainly don't know this. Indeed, Gordon in the story following the rebuild, and in the story 'Percy Takes the Plunge', set after the rebuild, Henry recalls the events of 'The Sad Story of Henry', which suggests that his memory survived the rebuild. As both sources may be considered equally canonicalCanon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
, the question of whether there have been two Henrys or one will always have a paradoxical answer and will likely remain unanswered.
The same book featured a certain amount of retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
to explain Henry's old shape in the first place. The explanation devised was that he was an experimental locomotive built according to plans stolen from Sir Nigel Gresley. Owing to a mistake, the wrong plans were taken and the locomotive built was so riddled with faults that the only person who could be persuaded to buy it was the Fat Controller (then the Fat Director), who at the time was desperate for any locomotive he could get. The name of the thief is never revealed. The Fat Controller claims that he wanted an Atlantic (a locomotive with a 4-4-2 wheel arrangement). This latter point is worth noting, as William Middleton, the very first Railway Series artist, portrayed Henry as this type of engine, as did Awdry's initial sketches.
The Island of Sodor also features a biography of the Fat Controller, which mentions that he was apprenticed with Stanier at Swindon Works
Swindon Works
Swindon railway works were built by the Great Western Railway in 1841 in Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire.-History:In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of a railway between London and Bristol. Its Chief Engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel.From 1836, Brunel had been buying...
. It is possible that this is another piece of retcon to explain how he was able to have Henry rebuilt so easily – something that even Rev. W. Awdry admitted was "a mystery".
In the book Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, it is said that Henry looks very much like a Stanier 5MT
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0
The London Midland and Scottish Railway's Class 5 4-6-0, almost universally known as the Black Five, is a class of steam locomotive. It was introduced by William Stanier in 1934 and 842 were built between then and 1951...
, which suggests that he is not totally identical to one of these engines. It is not clear why Christopher Awdry should have felt the need to contradict his father, who was, of course, the original author, but it may be simply a result of copy-editing errors and publication deadlines – there is a second error (or misprint) in the same book, the character Mavis is correctly described as a Drewry Class 04
British Rail Class 04
The British Rail Class 04 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive class was built between 1952 and 1962 and was the basis for the later Class 03 built in the British Railways workshops. The Class 04 locomotives were supplied by the Drewry Car Co., which at the time had no manufacturing...
, yet is inaccurately said to be an 0-4-0.
Portrayal in TV series
In the television series, some degree of technical consistency was achieved. Unlike his Railway Series counterpart, Henry was never portrayed as a 4-6-2; always a 4-6-0. But there were major differences between the TV version and the Book versions of Henry, in his old, and new incarnation. His old shape is quite similar to his newer one. The only difference appears to be the presence of a top feed, and Belpaire fireboxBelpaire firebox
The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...
. This could have been done for ease of the changeover to his "Black Five"-esque appearance. When the new models were made in 2000, they gave Henry a cutoff splasher approximately where his old shape's tapered boiler and old cutoff splasher was. Also, if looked at closely, when Henry is wrecked, his top feed from his new shape is already fitted. In another continuity error, during a head-on shot after Henry has returned from his Crewe rebuild, his old shape (without external steam pipes) is used.
Henry was never portrayed in the TV series as being blue, as he was in some early Railway Series stories; this was likely done so that young viewers would not confuse him with Gordon (as young readers had once done), as well as to save production costs.
Old Shape:
- Henry in the series has a curve in the running boards similar to an LNER Class A1/A3LNER Class A1/A3The London and North Eastern Railway LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley...
. - In the television series, he has his firebox flush with the running boards.
- His dome is mounted like a Black Five's, close to the cab.
- He has a cutoff third splasher, that is flush with the firebox.
- The front of his frames (below his smokebox door) are angled sharply, like a Black Five, instead of being rounded as in The Railway Series.
- No external steam pipes are evident at his smokebox.
New Shape:
- In The Railway Series Henry lacked splashers. From Seasons one to two, the producers followed this rule of thumb. But in Seasons three through five, he gained a set of 3 full splashers. In Season six, Henry regained a cutoff splasher similar to his old shape. The sloppy positioning of the splashers at times indicate that the parts might be either removable, or that they were added later.
- Henry's original cab was identical to his new shape (save for window shape, angled inward vs. vertical, respectively), further demonstrating how old shape and new shape Henry were possibly the same model. Possibly confirming this theory, at least one model in Seasons 9-11 has been seen with the original angled window shape (easily seen in "Henry and the Wishing Tree"), the rest of the original window obscured by the new firebox. A similar occurrence happened in "The Runaway."
Henry as a model
C. Reginald Dalby, Sodor’s first CME, originally drew Henry for the first book "Three Railway Engines" as an engine similar to Gordon. In this incarnation he was a rather sickly engine until "Henry the Green Engine" (1951), when he was found to run well on Welsh coal (in real life, high-calorific anthracite which supplied the GWR). Unfortunately in that book, he was involved in a serious accident and sent to Crewe. The staff at Crewe, the LMS loco engineering headquarters, "rebuilt" him as that railway’s most prolific loco, the 4-6-0 5MT "Black Five." The eagle-eyed will spot that Henry's top-feed (the nub in front of the dome) is somewhat forward along the boiler than most 5MTs, corresponding to 1940s modifications by HG Ivatt.First appearing in 1934, "Black Fives" were Sir William Stanier’s most rugged and versatile design. They were similar to his "Jubilee" 5P express passenger loco, but with slightly smaller driving wheels to give it ability to haul freight as well as passengers. They show the hallmarks of Stanier’s distinctive standard LMS style, a practice he brought with him from his previous employers, the GWR of Churchward and Collett, with the purpose of using interchangeable parts on very different locos. Stanier’s ideas led the way for British Railways standard designs of the 1950s.
The model Henry made by the Rev W Awdry is said to have had as many problems as his fictional counterpart, according to the Reverend himself in this text from his Model Railway Scrapbook:
"A Graham Farish (1950 Henry) adapted. I had a lot of trouble with this loco at first. Bought second hand, it reached me in a deplorable condition. But, when all the dirt and fluff had been removed from the wheels, gears and motor, it proved quite a useful engine. The main disadvantage was that one had to start it with full regulator away, then with throttle down immediately afterwards. This made smooth starting impossible, and shunting difficult."
It is said that this model "did not make it into preservation"
From The Thomas the Tank Engine Man. Used with the approval of Brian Sibley
Hornby, meanwhile use a tool for Henry that was first used for their Black 5 in 1973. It was converted to make Henry after the company upgraded its Black 5 model with a new super-detailed tool.
Racism allegation
Henry was the central character of what might be the most controversial story in the history of the Railway Series. In the story 'Henry's Sneeze', the character blasts some troublemaking schoolboys with sootSoot
Soot is a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolyzed fuel particles such as cenospheres,...
. The story was attacked in 1972 due to the fact that it described the boys in question to have been rendered "as black as niggers."
The story was considered so controversial that it was actually reported in the national press. Awdry himself claimed that it was a case of oversensitivity on the part of the race relations board; a complaint that was misinterpreted by some members of the public as meaning that he was a racist. To solve the problem, he changed the offending sentence to "as black as soot", which has been used in subsequent editions of the book.
The 'Henry's Forest' Controversy
Henry was the focus of Rev. W. Awdry's irritation once again in the 1990s, when the third season of the television series 'Thomas the Tank Engine and FriendsThomas the Tank Engine and Friends
Thomas and Friends is a British children's television series, first broadcast on the ITV network in September 1984. Until 2003, it was named Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. This series was shot on 35mm film...
' was released. This series featured a number of original episodes that had not been adapted from The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...
stories, some of which annoyed Awdry with their lack of realism. The story that particularly angered him was called 'Henry's Forest'.
This episode begins by explaining that Henry's favourite place on Sodor is a forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
through which the line runs. He likes to stop here and admire the scenery. A storm damages the forest, making Henry sad. The episode ends happily, with new trees being planted to replace the ones lost.
Awdry's complaints were directed at two aspects of the episode in particular. One was that it was unrealistic to have a railway running through a forest, and that sparks from an engine's funnel could cause a wildfire. Britt Allcroft
Britt Allcroft
Britt Allcroft is the multi- award-winning creator of a trio of children's entertainment produced in the 1980s and 1990s: "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends", , "Shining Time Station" and "Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie".She was born Hilary Mary Allcroft, in Worthing, England and, at...
, the producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
of the series, countered this aspect by claiming that she had seen a number of lines do the same thing.
The other aspect was that Henry stops to admire the view without alerting the signalman
Signalman (rail)
A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains.- History :...
, which was in direct contravention of British Railways' Rule 55
Rule 55
Rule 55 was an operating rule which applied on the former British Railways in the 19th century, and was made defunct when the was introduced following privatisation of the railway.- Overview :...
. This, Awdry argued, would never be allowed to happen in real life, and would be highly unsafe.
In the Season 5 story 'James & the Trouble with Trees' some trees are removed because 'The Fat Controller says they're too close to the line.' This is evident in Season 8 story 'Henry and the Wishing Tree', in which the trees are further back. It seems likely that these changes were a response to Awdry's complaints.
Henry in the television series
Henry was introduced in the first series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. He has appeared in every season and is one of the eight engines in The Steam Team.From Hero of the Rails
Hero of the Rails
Hero of the Rails is a 2009 animated film and feature spin-off of the TV series, Thomas and Friends. The film is a follow up, not a direct sequel to Thomas and the Magic Railroad and a sequel to Calling All Engines! and The Great Discovery...
onwards, Henry is voiced by Kerry Shale
Kerry Shale
Kerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:...
(US) and Keith Wickham
Keith Wickham
Keith Wickham is a British actor, comedian and voice actor.He is well known for voicing Changed Daily in The Secret Show, Mr. Small, and Mr. Tall in The Mr. Men Show , Corneil in Corneil & Bernie , Mr...
(UK) (who also voices Edward, Gordon, James & Percy).
Henry in Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Henry is voiced by Kevin FrankKevin Frank
Kevin Frank, born January 13, 1957, is a Canadian writer and actor. He is a popular host of TV shows such as The Next Line, Kidstreet and Pet Project.-Voice roles:* Kevin from Pet Project...
in the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Thomas and the Magic Railroad is a 2000 British/American film based on the well-known TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and the United States TV series Shining Time Station. The film was co-produced by Gullane Entertainment and the Isle of Man Film Commission. It was written, produced...
. In the film, he is the only steam engine to have an American accent, and he appears to still suffer from boiler trouble. The major difference between this incarnation and the pre-rebuild version of the television series is that his sickness is cured by "Island of Sodor coal" rather than Welsh.