one thing the fans are looking for are the props from the Tugs series
that came out years before Thomas too!

Also when you watched this series TOO much you KNOW the faces!

Actually, the Tugs fleet was found a few years back. After the creator's death, a storage unit containing the fleet and other assets was cleaned out and the entire fleet thrown into a dumpster, where the models were heavily damaged. Luckily a construction worker who knew a maritime modeler came across the fleet, and sent them to him. The modeler recently sold the fleet to a railway museum who is attempting to repair what they can and exhibit the models, albeit mostly in deplorable condition, as they had literally been pulled out of the trash. The museum is trying to somewhat repair the models, but is not to skilled at this, and also like to decorate the fleet for the holidays, which irks purists. I say give them a break, they're model railroaders like me, not a Smithsonian prop restoration crew! I give credit for them at least keeping the fleet together and displaying the models where they can be enjoyed by the world.

(Unfortunately Top Hat and Grampus are missing from the fleet, presumably destroyed when the Tugs assets had been thrown out.).

https://www.facebook.com/TugsTheExhibition/
they have a FB page