Mark Carson

**Mark Carson** or '***Cars**'* as he is mostly referred to as, is the 2nd in command in the operations of the Model Engineers Society.

## Bio

Born in January 1988, Mark Carson was always known to be a fanatic when it comes to mechanics and motor racing. His early memories was winning the nursery's die cast championships 3 years in a row-mainly because he was the only racer. In his early teens he often helped his father around the house and was a good friend of Mr Edwin Hughes, a local mechanic who owned a garage in the local town. Mark soon became an apprentice there and was considered a well successor should Edwin retire.

But in 2006, the land owner on which the garage was built on had increased the rent to a point where it couldn't be met. As a result, Edwin was forced into early retirement and Mark relegated to work for the land owner, Bernard Martin Williams. The garage was demolished shortly before Mark joined the Motor Car Society.

Mark made a good impression during his time at the MCS. He proved himself to be a worthy asset when he got an old Ford Anglia working again after other workers failed to get it going, and that happened to be on his first day. Marks position in the society grew to where he was placed 2nd in command and was placed uncharge of market and over all supervision. For a while it was the best 2 years the society had ever had, customers were buying their cars and the marketing campaign turned out successful.

In September 2008, Mark was enlisted to undergo the production of a new form of petrol that Bernard had created. He was tasked of supplying the heating source which he soon acquired. With the help of Grinder and Gears, Cars stole the Model Engineers Society's engine 'Betty' during the night a proceeded to use it as the heating source. The operation goes wrong when production was highjacked by members of the Model Engineers Society which angered Mark. He tried to stop the sabotage but resulted in accidentally shooting one of them, Mike Whitehouse, over a hot petrol vat and believed to have killed him when he fell in. Frightened by the 'murder', Mark instantly resigned from the MCS and went into hiding.

It was not until 2 weeks later did Mark ever show his face again where he decided to take on the job of Station Master for the MES. His first few days there started out rough and his ways of running things didn't sit well with the rest of the staff and several quarrels occurred. But knowing that he was only doing this to help the railway get back on track, his friends put a good word put in and was given another chance. After getting used to the way things worked on the railway, Mark soon worked his way up the ladder till he gained the position of Head Foreman and 2nd Command of the railway.

Under the childhood nickname 'Cars', Mark is ready to take command whenever a situation comes to the railway and welcomes any challenges put to him.

## Relationships

Although he is shown to be an authority figure, Mark does have a way of charming the ladies. In his days at the MCS, he was noted to be dating a young secretary of Bernard's before his sudden departure. They were later reunited some years later, but due to unforeseen circumstances, their relationship soon ended in a sorrow departure.

During his time at the MES, Mark has taken accustom to the tea girl, Jane, who sometimes teases that she is has a thing for him. There was a time when one member of the railway was seen kissing Jane after she helped them out of serious situation. The result sees Mark instructing that members of the railway must not embrace themselves to one another in such a manner, though really that was a rule that he quickly made up. Mark always looks out for Jane and ensures that nothing ever happens to her.

## Appearance

Cars is noted to have dark brown hair in a slight gothic style with side-burns and a goatee. He has brown eyes.

His clothing often changes but he is often seen wearing:

* White shirt
* Black jacket (With an MES embroiled badge sewn on and two yellow lines below the waist and across his left sleeve. Similar to the yellow lines you'd see on a roadway) Unlike the others, Mark doesn't wear the Railway's Navy Blue sleeveless jacket and instead wears his own black jacket. The reason being is that it's his personal favourite and when he used to work for the MCS, it was ruined slightly when the initials MCS were scribbled on with permanent marker. When he joined the railway he got an embroiled badge of the railway's initials sewn on, covering the MCS mark. It is also rumoured that the two lines on his left sleeve relates to that of a Sergeants stripes on an army uniform, referencing his 2nd in command of the railway.
* Light blue jeans with brass buckled belt.
* Black trainers.
* Wears a Rolex watch on his left arm
* Has a tattoo on his right arm with the initials RD.
* Often seen carrying a clipboard and holding a pen/pencil in his ear.

**Voice Actor**

Originally, Cars was to be voiced by the person he was based on. However due to availability he never got round to voicing the character. So series Creator, Michael White stepped in to voice him for Search of the Lost Engine & On the Railways.

Between 2012-13 Cars was then voiced by a member of Michael's family.

From 2023 a new voice actor had been chosen for him, but has yet to be revealed.

## Trivia

* Mark is the first character to have a backstory
* He is based on an old school friend of Michael White who was always fascinated with cars.
* In early developments of stories, his name was originally going to be Ross Sterling.
* He is the only one out of the railway group to have 2 love interests.
* During the corse of the series, some stories revolve around Mark's past employment and sometimes involving his relationship with Jane.