//------------------------------//
// Henry Sees Red 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: More Tales from Sodor 
// by The Blue EM2 
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Henry had gone into Crovan's Gate for maintenance. It was perfectly routine, of course, as all engines need checking over once in a while. Unfortunately, they had discovered some very serious things indeed in the course of a routine inspection, and these needed rectifying. Henry was being fitted with new tires on his driving wheels, amongst other things, and he would also be getting a new whistle to replace his old one. A cylinder would also be replaced, but the work dragged on longer than expected. The work was long, and Henry soon grew extremely bored. The workmen did their best, but they were only human, and there was only so fast that they could work.

Eventually, however, he was ready. The workmen completely reassembled him, and then put him through a full steam test. In this capacity, he performed flawlessly. Then some men came to repaint him. First, they chiselled away the old layers of paint, till he was back to the metal on the cladding. Then, the men applied a fresh coat of paint. Henry was dismayed.

"That's not green!" he exclaimed. "That's red! I'm not a Jubilee! I'm a Black- erm, Green Five!"

The painters laughed. "There's nothing to worry about!" they said.

Fluttershy then took up the mantle of explaining. "That's called an undercoat, Henry," she explained. "It's a special coat of paint that is meant to keep your boiler cladding protected from rust. They will soon put the green and red stripes on top of that, and you will be ready to run again."

"If it's only temporary, then it is fine," Henry conceeded. "But I'll still look like somebody dumped a bottle of tomato sauce on me!"

The painters laughed, and continued work.

The next morning, Fluttershy hurried into the works and lit Henry's fire. "I'm sorry to wake you so early, Henry!" she said. "But there's an emergency at Vicarstown, and we need to help!"

"But I'm not finished!" Henry protested. "What if this coat doesn't work! What if the other engines laugh at me?"

"They won't laugh at you, because that's a very mean thing to do," Fluttershy replied, and waited for Henry's boiler pressure to build.

Eventually, they were ready to move, and ran down the line tender first to Vicarstown. On the way, they saw Bear, who had been shunted into a siding. "Sorry for breaking down, old chap!" he said. "Best of luck on the run!"

"Thank you," Henry replied, as he backed onto the coaches. He saw Sir Toppham Hatt standing on the platform, and decided to address him. "Sir, I feel ridiculous. I'm worried the other engines will find it funny."

Sir Toppham Hatt put his hand underneath his chin. "Well, I will admit you do look a bit unusual. But that's a lot better than the passengers having to catch a bus. Besides, you're hardly the strangest thing I've seen on this railway. Good luck, and may the winds be with you!"

Henry soon set off for Tidmouth. The departure time would have been too soon, no matter what time it was, and he was worried. "This train is long and heavy!" he said. "I hope we don't stall."

Fluttershy glanced out ahead. "I think we'll need to request a banking engine up the hill," she said. "You'd struggle to get this lot over."

They were in trouble long before then. As they passed through Kellsthorpe Road, the emergency brakes slammed on and the train ground to a halt. The brakes on the rear coach had failed, and Henry had to move it out of the way as the yard pilot had failed. To make matters even worse, the banking engine had gotten delayed on the return to Maron, so Henry had to attempt the climb over Gordon's Hill alone.

"Don't worry Henry," Fluttershy soothed, "You can do it. You're good as new, and a hard worker. I believe in you."

Henry, fired with determination, was ready to go. Fluttershy cranked open his regulator, and he began to get speed up as he charged the hill. He had been mended well, and his steam pressure held steady as he continued to accelerate. He continued to gain speed, the hill seeming to stretch ahead of him into infinity.

"I will do it! I will do it!" he panted. The nine coaches behind him dragged and threatened to pull him down again, but he would not be deterred, and continued to climb with determination. His boiler pressure stayed high, and he was even gaining speed on the uphill. His exhaust boomed and steam shot high into the sky, meaning those who had turned out on the lineside saw a truly spectacular sight indeed. At long last, Henry cleared the summit, and he was up and over, and soon running down the other side. From then on, Henry had to be held back as he thundered along the line to Tidmouth. There was only one intermediate stop at Knapford, and it was here Sir Toppham Hatt disembarked.

"Well done, Henry!" he said. "You did an incredible job, and made enough noise for 10 engines. Perhaps I should repaint all of my engines red if it produces performances like that. But you have earned your green coat with red stripes." Suddenly, he got a call on his phone. "Hello? Edward has broken down and there's no engine? Send James! What do you mean he's painted pink? There's no other engine! Besides, if Henry is anything to go by, an engine in undercoat performs superbly."

A new coat of paint was precisely what Henry got, of course. Henry was hailed a hero, and when he returned to the shed, he was greeted with great cheers and a giant chorus of whistles, as he was once more Henry the Green Engine.

James also had a fairly easy time out on the line as well. Although he was painted pink, he and Rarity had no real issues. After all, in the day, pink was a very masculine colour!