On Saturday November 10th, 2018, the weather was quite breezy yet sunny as I went out of Premier Inn hotel near Derby City Centre to the bus stop en route to Ripley, and as I waited for the bus, ellsworth arrived and it wasn't long until we both got in one of the Nines bus. This was where the fun began.
When we arrived at the Midland Railway Centre in Butterley, ellsworth and myself then met one of his college classmates who was filming for a 10 minute documentary project. Then I went into the station and booked my ticket before taking the 1100 train, where Parker Productions later joined me, and then ellsworth and his classmate arrived too. The ride was worth it and we all talked like great friends. The train stopped at Swanwick Junction on its way back for ten minutes, where me and Parker Productions got off to take a plenty of pictures of the station, its surroundings and the engines before getting back to our train en route to Butterley.
Once we all made it back to Butterley by 11:50 AM, we went into the station cafe where we see all our friends including Charlie and Richard celebrating the special occasion ~ the 30th year anniversary of TUGS, a short lived children's TV show devised by Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton, the director of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends up to 2003 (now called Thomas & Friends). It wasn't long before CraneProductions27 and StarbugProductions arrived at the cafe and we all reunited ~ after four and a half years since we previously met at the Andercon event near Heathrow on Saturday April 19th, 2014.
As 12:30 PM drew near, ellsworth, Lew the Racoon and I amongst other people were called to make our way to the exhibition coach with Chris Eden-Green (the creator and presenter of 'Steam Locos in Profile' with his camera), Sean and Sam. When all was ready and the doors were opened, there was the Duchess model (now called 'S.S. Roxstar' in Thomas & Friends as a set decoration for Brendam Docks scenes) sitting proudly on the table at the centre of the coach - much to our bewilderment and surprise!
The Duchess model looked so humongous in size and height, and even some minor prop detail to it were intriguing to look at and I took plenty of photos including some of my replica wooden Thomas toy models (created for me by Whitehousefilms) standing next to the Duchess herself!
Here is the interesting fact about the Duchess model: During the production of TUGS nearing the late 80's, a model maker in Germany built a large ocean liner named 'The Duchess' that appeared in the first episode titled 'Sunshine'. After the liner ship was made, it was transported to Shepperton Studios by van. Following the production of 'Sunshine', the exact liner ship was then repainted and renamed to 'Princess Alice' in 'High Winds' and then 'S.S. Vienna' in 'Bigg Freeze'. Following the cancellation of TUGS, the liner ship occasionally appeared in Thomas & Friends episodes and specials under the name 'S.S. Roxstar' to this very day.
An hour later after exploring the coach, we headed back to the cafe for some lunch, watching TUGS episodes on television and provided more fun at the party. SkarloeyFan showed me his collection book filled with vintage Thomas postcards and stamps including ones featuring still images from the television series, and he then took out a board game of TUGs as he played with our friends. Next there was modellers galore with Lew's Puffa model, Terrier55Stepney and Harry Fenchurch's Star Fleet models and their recreation of 'San Juan Bananas' building, and finally a complete set of the original Awdry Thomas wooden toy replicas by Whitehousefilms for me (where I sneakily stuck Gordon's angry face to the front of wooden Thomas toy for good measure!).
As the evening drew in, the event ended with a chocolate birthday cake and we all had a slice each. It tasted delicious. I bought two Christmas baubles of Zorran and Warrior along with Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie DVD from the TUGS merchandising sales. You can watch my spoiler-free preview of the new Thomas DVD movie here.
https://youtu.be/djUzvkSELCg
As we all left the party for home and bid our goodbyes as the day turned to night, Parker Productions, ellsworth, James Jorden and I all caught the bus back to Derby and all discussed about the day's events during the journey. As we finally reached Derby and got off the bus, we all bid our farewells as Parker Productions went to go back to the train station on a homeward journey, James went back to his hotel and ellsworth and I both headed back to the Premiere Inn hotel for some rest. The following day I left the hotel earlier to catch the train back to London as there were engineering works on the usual route from Derby. The journey was longer than expected on alternative routes, but I made it back home safe and sound.
Overall it certainly was a day for surprises and I have had a terrific time with lots of wonderful friends ~ old and new. Seeing the Duchess model in person was the real highlight of the day as well as the birthday celebration at the station cafe in Butterley. A bigg thank you goes to the Star Tugs team for setting up a very special occasion for Thomas and TUGS fans to celebrate, and for making 2018 worthwhile for many of my trips.
For more information about TUGS, characters and future events, check out the official Star Tugs website and social media pages.
Official Website: http://seansi3d.wixsite.com/thestartugs
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBSF_19SxpqyBSI1ocVYL1A
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheStarTugsTrust
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StarTugTweets
Thank you for reading the latest blog report on my latest trip to the Star Tugs exhibition coach at the Midland Railway Centre in Butterley. For more photos from the event, you can check out the photo album on my Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2250116061892180&type=1&l=d2fa1d0e84
"You're clear Vienna! Bon voyage! God speed!" ~ Hercules, TUGS, Bigg Freeze
