Mike Whitehouse

**Mike Whitehouse** or *Whitehouse* as he is mostly referred to is the station shunter and spare driver on the miniature railway.

## About

Born in 1992, Whitehouse's fascination with steam trains grew whenever he sees one pass his house as a young boy. During his school days, he first met his long time friend Casey, whom interested him in joining the Model Engineers Society in 2007. While working as a trainee, Whitehouse mostly tackled the guard duties but found being in a guards van wasn't as exciting as he had hoped it to be. So he decided to take at becoming an engine driver. Tutored by Casey, he slowly got the hang of knowing the basics of driving an engine but there were other controls that he doesn't seem to know. He soon resulted in buying himself an engine and with it became the railways' shunter. He mainly works round the carriage sheds or down at the Old Mine.

During the railways' endeavour with the Motor Car Society, Whitehouse is always ready to lend a hand whenever possible. He is sometimes known to be the one to turn to when some knowledgable advice is needed or basically someone to talk to. He takes time from his work to listen to those that need to share something important or offers helpful advice whenever they are in need of a guide.

There are times when Whitehouse would often find himself in situations that he has to rely on his friends to help him out. On one event he was convicted of stealing rolling stock from the club's carriage sheds, which he testifies as untrue but is punished none the less. Another time he encounters food poisoning before helping out at another miniature railway that is in need of assistance and a replacement was quickly enrolled.

## Hair today...

it is not hard to spot Whitehouse in a crowd for the main distinctive feature of his appearance is his hair. Unlike everyone else's, Whitehouse's hair is shown to be a rich Yale Blue. His hair was originally coloured chocolate brown but in 2008, while helping out with the whereabouts of a missing club loco, he fell into a vat of black market petrol and the result of which permanently dyed his hair. He doesn't mind this as blue is his favourite colour.

## Appearance

Whitehouse is 6ft 3 inches tall, has blue eyes and Yale Blue hair, styled similar to that of the actor David Tennant when playing the 10th Doctor in the BBC Si-Fi series *Doctor WHO.*

His clothing sometimes changes but is mostly seen wearing the following:

* Scarlet polo shirt
* Navy blue sleeve-less jacket (With M. E. S. in gold stitching)
* Light blue jeans
* Brown belt/ small utility pocket.
* Red, white and light brown striped trainers.

### Voice Actor

In the early audio adaptions between 2008-2013, he was voiced by series creator Michael White.

Michael returns to voice the role from 2023 onwards.

## Trivia

* Mike Whitehouse is based on the creator, Michael White.
* He was the first character created for the stories.
* In early drafts, the stories were depicted from Whitehouse's memories in a similar fashion to how the TV series *'TUGS'* was narrated.
* His surname is loosely based off the surname of *'Railway Roundabout'* presenter Patrick Whitehouse
* Michael White originally wanted to dye his hair blue when he left secondary school. But when he couldn't, he decided to let his character have the hairstyle.