Whiff

"*When this was completed, he was assigned to Barrow as the station's pilot.*"
— Edward, A History of its Railways

**Ignatius,** more commonly known as **Whiff**, is a green tank engine. He used to work at the Barrow-in-Furness scrapyard and was also the station pilot there. As of Season 3, Whiff now works for the North Western Region of BR on the Ffarquhar Branch Line.

## Biography

Whiff was built in 1869 and sometime before 1891, he was purchased by the government and became the station pilot at Barrow-in-Furness. Whiff had served in the Second Boer War where he met Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi. Whiff loved telling the engines stories about his time there, which makes Gordon believe his fondness for storytelling rubbed off on Edward. In 1917, during the First World War, he was sent to Sodor to build the Ffarquhar Branch Line. After the Ffarquhar Branch Line was finished and opened, he returned to the Mainland to build the Barrow Scrapyard and expand its yard. After the completion of the projects, he returned to being its station pilot.

He served there up until 1947, when the owners of the scrapyard learned that they had to replace Whiff because of financial troubles. Whiff chose to volunteer for target practice for the Navy. The day before the practice was to take place, he visited his friends to say goodbye. Whiff was taken out on a barge for target practice, but the three shots missed him, thanks to the Lucky Lamp. At the last minute, Sir Topham Hatt purchased him to run on the Ffarquhar Branch Line to help Thomas, Percy and Toby with the fuel deliveries.

## Livery

Whiff is painted in a dark green livery with black and yellow lining and green wheels. He has red numberplates on his bunker. He wears large spectacles on his smokebox.

## Basis

Whiff is based on the North Eastern Railway's 2-2-4T No. 66, named "Aerolite". Aerolite was built in 1869 to replace a destroyed Kitston locomotive of the same name, and to haul the Mechanical Engineer's saloon coach. It was rebuilt extensively several times during its career. It was classified X1 by the LNER in 1923 and was retired in 1933, being preserved at York the following year. It can be found today at the National Railway Museum in York.

## Trivia

* He is the first character that wears glasses in the series.
	+ His glasses cost a lot of money to make.
* In The Stories of Sodor episodes based on episodes from TUGS, Whiff takes the role of Grampus.
* Since the Sodor Short, Test, Whiff got a different model compared to that throughout Season 1-3 and earlier Sodor Shorts. This makes him the first character in The Stories of Sodor to gain a new model at some point after Victor Tanzig upgraded to Trainz 2019, with the second being Emily (in Adaptation), the third being Billy (in Cancelled), the fourth being Bulgy (in Revolution), the fifth being Dennis (in Sloth), the sixth being Harold (in Glitch), and the seventh being Rosie (in Surprise). This does not count Henry, Gordon, James, and Percy temporarily gaining new models in the former short.
	+ He is also the first character in The Stories of Sodor to have a model with a 2D face prior to gaining one with a 3D face, with Billy being the second and Bulgy being the third (again not counting Henry, Gordon, James, and Percy in the aforementioned short)
* He and Toby are the only engines that are known to be able to speak another language, aside from Sudrian. (Edward and Douglas know a small amount of French).

## Appearances

### The Stories of Sodor

#### Season 1

* Scrap
* Sting

#### Season 2

* Thief
* Smuggling
* Maintenance *(cameo)*
* Armaments *(mentioned)*
* Affection
* Parade *(cameo)*

#### Stories of War

* Evacuation *(cameo)*
* Combat *(cameo)*

#### Season 3

* Aftermath
* Choices
* Amends *(cameo)*
* Trial *(cameo)*
* Fog *(indirectly mentioned)*

#### Season 4

* Modernisation
* Diagnosis *(cameo)*
* Prototypes *(cameo)*
* Secrets *(cameo)*
* Treasure
* Animosity *(cameo)*
* Relationships
* Beeching
* Storm *(cameo)*

#### SCPs of Sodor

* Fortune Favours the Lucky *(mentioned)*
* A Troublesome Engine *(cameo)*

#### Season 5

* Enthusiasts *(cameo)*
* Preservation *(cameo)*
* Training
* Experiment
* Fallout *(cameo)*

#### Sodor Shorts

* Tutorial
* Preview *(in the preview)*
* Blackout *(not seen)*
* Remembrance *(does not speak)*
* Test
* Update *(in the new intro)*
* Pets *(mentioned)*
* Triggers
* Adaptation *(does not speak)*
* FRANKenstein
* Resolution
* Birthday
* Possessed
* Assumption *(mentioned)*
* Found
* Subject
* Experiment
* Government *(indirectly mentioned)*
* Revolution
* Hypnotised
* Wrath
* Mood
* X-Ray
* First
* Recovered
* Achievement
* Glitch
* Disguise
* Like
* Dislike
* Invention
* Latin
* AI
* NDA
* Typical *(mentioned on sign)*
* Damage

#### Sodor Specials

* Non-Faceless Vehicles *(cameo)*
* A History of its Railways *(cameo)*