Mike (T&F)

"Real? Of course we're real! We bring ballast to put under your track!"

- Mike to Marion Mike is a small strong grumpy red engine who prefers goods trains to passengers. He works on the Arlesdale Railway.

Biography
When Marion meets the small railway engines for the first time, Mike took her belief that they were magical much less kindly than the other two. The following day when Thomas came up to Arlesburgh West, depressed about being sent to work on the new branch line as punishment for derailing the express coaches, Mike, along with the others, sang "Never Overlook a Little Engine" to cheer him up.

At dusk that day, Mike was shunting ballast wagons onto the chute when Marion reappeared at their junction to make a wish; while Rex and Bert managed to escape unnoticed, Marion trapped Mike on the chute with her shovel and held on until she made her wish. Mike escaped at full speed when Marion let go, but this only strengthened Marion's belief.

When Sailor John went through with the pirate ship two nights later, the three small engines shunted a train of ballast wagons off the chute in front of the ship to decrease its speed after hearing Thomas approaching the junction. The ship ran over most of the hoppers, but one got caught under the flatbed the ship was on, lifting its front bogey off the track and slowing it down as a result.

As in the Railway Series, Mike lost his whistle when he came across a cow and his temper when he came across some sheep.

Personality
Mike means well and works hard, but can sometimes appear a little cunning and arrogant. He thinks he should be in charge of the other two engines, though neither of them really let him boss them around. Bert simply humours him, but Rex goes out of his way to tease Mike and wind him up, which is not very difficult given the fact that he is hot-headed. Mike much prefers pulling goods trains to passengers, unlike Gordon, as he considers goods much more straightforward and less likely to complain. He is proud of his strength and appears rather confident, but he would not be so easy to tease if he was not hiding at least a little insecurity. He can sometimes be a little argumentative and irritable and it is common for him to overheat when he loses his temper. But overall, Mike has a kind personality and wants to be a really useful engine.

Basis
Mike is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's River Mite.

Livery
Mike is painted in scarlet red with blue lining and yellow cab window frames. The word "ARLESDALE" is painted on his tender in yellow with a red outline. He has a black running board with red bufferbeams and valences. He also has a brass dome and brass nameplates with red backing.

Appearances
Television Series= {{Scroll box|

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 20 - The Way She Does It, Tit for Tat, Mike's Whistle and Useful Railway
 * Series 21 - Daisy's Perfect Christmas
 * Series 24 - The Great Little Railway Show

Specials

 * 2015 - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
 * 2016 - The Great Race
 * 2017 - Journey Beyond Sodor

Music Videos

 * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure - Never Overlook a Little Engine and We Make a Team Together
 * The Great Race - Will You Won't You
 * Series 21 - Set Friendship in Motion and Little Engines
 * Series 22 - All the Girls Around the World
 * Series 24 - Party Train

Learning Segments

 * Guess Who? Puzzles

Videos
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 * 2018 - Different Ways to See the World
 * 2020 - Top 5 Animals
 * -|Other Media=

Books
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 * 2015 - Pirate Treasure, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: Sticker Activity Book and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie Storybook
 * 2018 - Character Encyclopedia
 * 2020 - Thomas the Tank Engine Encyclopedia (Japanese)

Official Description
From Official Website:
 * -|2015-2021=

Trivia

 * When Mike was introduced in the television series, he gained a brake pipe, a lamp above his smokebox and his buffers became more oval-shaped.
 * For unknown reasons, Mike's right-hand cab windows appear to be animated with gold frames rather than yellow ones - the same applies to the handrails at the back of his cab.
 * Mike’s CGI model has blue paint at the cut off point on his running board after his smoke box. It can be assumed that the third illustration of Ballast was used when Arc was creating Mike; as the reflection of light in that illustration gives the illusion that part of Mike’s running board is blue.
 * Mike has the most merchandise out of every Arlesdale engine.
 * In the CGI series, Mike's driving wheels and connecting rods are reused from Hiro’s model.
 * Just like Hiro, Mike’s eccentric rods are not animated properly as they do not complete a full rotation around his larger connecting rods.
 * He is the only Arlesdale Railway engine that has a TrackMaster variant.

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