Mike's Whistle

"If engines can't whistle properly, they shouldn't try!"

- Mike indirectly complaining about Duck to Rex, Bert and Thomas.

Mike's Whistle is an episode from the twentieth season.

Plot
One day, Thomas arrives at Arlesburgh Junction to pick up some ballast for his branch line. He is laughing to himself and explains to the miniature engines that Duck's driver boiled an egg on his whistle and some of the egg got stuck, resulting in Duck's whistle making high-pitched raspberry noises. He tells the engines not to laugh, but cannot hold in his laughter as Duck arrives. As Duck and Thomas leave, Mike tells the others that if an engine cannot whistle properly, they're not a proper engine. Rex teases him, causing Mike to get cross, and his steam pressure goes so high that his safety valve blows off. The Small Controller finds out that Mike is overheating and puts him on passenger duties and Bert on goods duty, much to Mike's annoyance, as he hates passenger trains.

As Mike is pulling his passenger train, he becomes convinced that Rex and Bert are making fun of his whistle because they are jealous. To reassure himself, he begins whistling at everything in sight, even though he is only required to do so at certain points on the line that are indicated by boards.

Mike's driver checks him over and cannot figure out what is wrong. On the return journey, his driver hears something rattling, but Mike refuses to have it checked until they get back to Arlesburgh. However, the line is blocked by a cow, and Mike attempts to shoo it off with his whistle. He blows it so hard and so loud that the cap shoots off and lands in a field. His driver and guard look for it without success. The passengers are getting impatient, and Mike's driver and guard cannot search anymore. Instead, the passengers volunteer to whistle for him by making noise whenever they pass the boards where he is required to whistle.

Mike is late returning to Arlesburgh, where he finds Duck, whose whistle has been fixed. Duck sympathises with Mike, but has to leave as Thomas arrives. Rex calls Mike an "improper engine", prompting Bert and Thomas to join in on the teasing. Mike regrets getting annoyed so easily, but is finally able to have a laugh at his expense.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Duck
 * Bert
 * Rex
 * Mike
 * Fergus Duncan
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher
 * The Great Railway Show Judge
 * Duck's Driver
 * Mike's Driver
 * Slip Coaches (cameo)
 * Willie (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * Dowager Hatt's Friends (cameo)
 * The Lady with the Big Hat (cameo)
 * Albert's Wife (cameo)
 * James (incorrectly mentioned in Japanese dub)

Some passengers also speak. They are voiced by Steven Kynman, Keith Wickham and Teresa Gallagher in both dubs.

Locations

 * Arlesburgh
 * Arlesburgh West
 * Arlesburgh West Shed
 * Arlesdale Green
 * Arlesdale
 * Thomas' Branch Line (mentioned)

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book, Small Railway Engines.
 * This is the first time the Mr. Fergus Duncan is referred to by name in either the Railway Series or the Television Series. He was named in the book "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways", however.
 * Mike's preference of trucks over passengers is mentioned: a characteristic carried over from the Railway Series that makes him unique among steam engines.
 * Some of the scenes in the episode are mirrored images of the book's illustrations.
 * This was one of five episodes that was incomplete at the time Arc Productions went bankrupt, and was finished off by Jam Filled Toronto after Jam Filled Entertainment bought the aforementioned studio.

Goofs

 * In the opening shot, Rex's Wheels and siderods are frozen.
 * When Duck's whistle is heard for the first time, Thomas' US voice can be heard laughing in the UK dub.
 * Throughout the episode, the steel ballast ramp at Arlesburgh West is silver instead of green. Parts of it also alternate between green and silver between some scenes.
 * After the episode title is said, Rex and Bert whistle, but their whistles were not animated to go off until several seconds after the sounds were heard.
 * In the Japanese dub, Mike talks about James, when he was actually talking about Duck.
 * When Mike is complaining about Duck's whistle, he appears to be rotated on the turntable twice.
 * When Mike returns to Arlesburgh West, the narrator says that Duck is waiting for Mike's passengers, but Duck leaves before the passengers had left Mike's train.
 * When Mike yells "Shoo, Shoo, Shoo!" to the cow, the cow's tail clips through its body.
 * At the beginning of the episode, Duck appears to leave the station only a few seconds after he has stopped, with no time for passengers to board or disembark his coaches.