Re: So whats this I hear about Thomas at the Huck?

The "Thomas" at Orange Empire this year I believe was the same one used at Roaring Camp (on the standard gauge) in July previous to the event in Perris (a dummy pushed from behind) The one crafted from the former BEDT #15 in Strasburg also visits a handfull of other tourist railroads in the Northeast, such as the Valley Railroad in Connecticut and the Cape May Seashore Lines in New Jersey. I also heard there was a full-scale rendition of the "Little Engine that Could" floating around several tourist railroads in the US earlier this year.
Judging by attendance these "ambassadors" to railroading seem to be doing their job, getting a new generation interested in steam, quite well.