Patrick Whitehouse

Patrick Whitehouse OBE
Born	Patrick Bruce Whitehouse
Nationality	British
Occupation	RAf officer (navigator); building company owner
Known for	Construction safety; Railway preservation
Notable work	Birmingham Railway Museum
Home town	Birmingham, West Midlands
Children	Michael, Maggy
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Patrick Bruce Whitehouse OBE (1922–1993) pioneered the preservation of disused railway branch lines, and the restoration to working order of the finest of Britain's steam locomotives after they were replaced by diesel locomotion in the 1960s.

Whitehouse reached the rank of Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, navigating Lancaster bombers. After his tour of duty, while navigating a transport plane he was shot down in the Mediterranean and survived for four days in a life raft before being rescued. His colleague, the pilot, died on the second day.

For much of his life, Whitehouse ran the family building business: B. Whitehouse and Sons, being appointed OBE in the 1960s for his campaign for safety regulations on building sites.

In 1951, Whitehouse and other railway enthusiasts formed Britain's first railway preservation society at the Talyllyn narrow gauge slate railway in mid-Wales. He became vice-president of the society and went on to help with the restoration of the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales and the Dart Valley Railway in Devon.

Whitehouse purchased Great Western Railway 4500 Class Small Prairie Tank No.4555, and then bought Castle Class No.7029 Clun Castle for its scrap price of £2,400. Both were intended to be used on the Dart Valley Railway, but inlight of his campaign for main line steam preservation that included face-to-face meetings with Dr. Beeching, then chairman of British Rail, he stored them at Tyseley TMD.

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