Coal, retitled Henry's Special Coal on North American releases, is the eighteenth episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book Henry the Green Engine.

Plot

One morning, Henry wakes up feeling very ill and very sorry for himself, in spite of his occasional capability of pulling trains. He complains to James that he suffers dreadfully and no one cares, but James is unsympathetic and shrugs it off as him being lazy. The Fat Controller is also unhappy about this, given that this is the latest in a myriad of problems with Henry, and not even new parts or paint seem to help him. The Fat Controller tells Henry that if he cannot get better, he will have to be replaced, which devastates him and his crew.

Determined to get to the bottom of the problem, the Fat Controller changes out of his usual hat and suit and puts on a crewman's uniform to ride along in Henry's cab as he takes his first train. Henry manages to start but his fireman is not pleased and notes that his firebox is not producing adequate heat. As a result, Henry quickly loses steam and has to rest in a siding when he reaches Wellsworth, where Edward takes over the train for him. The Fat Controller and Henry's fireman continue to investigate what the problem is and the fireman explains that the coal provided for Henry is unsuitable for him, made worse by the poor lot they have been receiving lately. While the other engines have big fireboxes, Henry's is too small to make the amount of heat needed for him to run properly. However, if Henry had Welsh coal, he would easily improve. Although the Welsh coal will be expensive, the Fat Controller agrees that Henry deserves a fair chance and sends James to collect some.

When the Welsh coal arrives, Henry's fireman carefully stokes up his fire to give the best possible results. Henry initially has his doubts but his mood changes as he comes into the platform with more than enough steam. The Fat Controller is happy to see that Henry is feeling well and warns the driver not to push him. The driver assures the Fat Controller not to worry, as Henry will not need pushing, but would have to be held back. Henry has a pleasant journey with his passenger train, and for the first time, he arrives at Elsbridge early. When Thomas arrives, Henry pays him back for an earlier insult before quickly running off. Too surprised to be cross, Thomas reacts with disbelief, and Annie and Clarabel agree with him.

Characters

• Thomas
• Henry
• James
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Edward (does not speak)
• Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)

Locations

• Tidmouth Sheds
  • The Works
  • Tidmouth Goods Station
• Wellsworth
• Knapford
  • Knapford Bus Yard
• The Wide-Arched Bridge
• Elsbridge

Trivia

• Stock footage from Edward, Gordon and Henry and Troublesome Trucks and deleted pre-filmed footage from the next episode is used.
• A promotional picture implies that James may have been intended to play a larger role in this episode; this picture can be found on the back cover of the 1990 release of the American VHS, James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories, albeit mirrored.
• The American title is the same one used by Johnny Morris in his audiobook recordings of Henry the Green Engine.
• This was the last episode introduced by Bonnie Langford during her time on Children's ITV. Matthew Kelly took over from 6 December 1984 but he was not too involved in the series, prompting him to only introduce one pairing (Toby and the Stout Gentleman/Thomas in Trouble) and Children's ITV was not shown until January 1985 when Roland Rat took over.
• This episode is featured on the least UK home video releases.

Goofs

• At the beginning of the episode, the source of James' smoke is visible.
• Because stock footage is used, the Fat Controller is smiling when he tells Henry about being replaced.
• Due to portions of the script being taken verbatim from the original book, the narrator says that:
  • The Fat Controller put on overalls when he actually put on a crewman's uniform.
  • Henry stopped outside Edward's Station, but his train has stopped at the platform.
• Throughout the episode, Henry's coaches keep changing their places and positions:
  • When Henry collects his coaches from Knapford and approaches Wellsworth, the first-class coach, the one with the yellow stripe, is in the middle of the train. However, when Henry stops next to the platform, the coach is suddenly at the front.
  • When Henry starts out of Knapford with his Welsh coal:
    • The brake coach is at the front of the train, the third-class one is in middle and the first-class one is in the back. However, when Henry passes the bus yard, the brake coach is suddenly the rear one, while the third and first class-coaches are in the front and middle respectively. Then, when Henry approaches the bridge, the break coach is suddenly facing the other way round for the remainder of the episode. This is to prevent the teak side from appearing on screen. Finally, when Henry passes under the bridge, the first and third-class coaches are in the front and middle respectively for the remainder of the episode.
• In the restored version, an outtake of Henry backing into the siding is used instead of the original shot, as his tender hits the station building and he leaves the siding afterward to be re-filmed. As a result, a few chuffing sounds are heard after Henry stops and Edward remains stationery despite his whistle and puffing sound being heard.
• As Edward backs onto the train, his eyes repeatedly bounce up and down.
• In the close-up of Henry's fireman holding a piece of coal, a piece of blu tack is visible sticking the coal to his hand and another one is also keeping one of his arms attached to his body.
• In the shot of Henry's fireman at Tidmouth Sheds, blu tack is visible below his right arm. In that same scene, part of Henry's paintwork is also blue because Gordon's large scale tender is used with green vinyl covered.
• As Henry leaves Knapford, the truck at the top of the platform changes into a van and steam also rises in between his coaches.
• When Henry passes the goods yard, blu tack can be seen under a workman's shoes.
• In the last close-up scene of Henry, he is in his new shape, which was a deleted scene for the next episode.
• When Henry's train rounds a bend, one side of the coaches is teak livery. In fact, the Old Coaches were painted emerald green with cream windows surrounds, while the other side remained unpainted teak. The Old Coaches were, in fact, repainted teak coaches but were only repainted on one side because of budget constraints, which means that across this episode and the whole series, the brake coach is often the wrong way round.
• Before Henry approaches Elsbridge, a bush is seen moving by itself.
• In the close up of Thomas, a gap can be seen behind his left eye.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

Books

Henry (2005 My Thomas Story Library book)

Henry (2016 Engine Adventures book)

Home Video Releases

Episode

Coal - UK

UK narration

Henry's Special Coal - US (George Carlin)

US narration (George Carlin)

References