November Update: The Lost Engine has been found!

Hey yall. Update on stuff.

- been lazy on my Colossal Uploads cuz I took so many pictures. Also pending are pictures from RICC17. Not many there because of how massive Colossal was.
- been chipping away here and there at TGR. May enlist some more help to get it done.
- progress has kinda halted on my ZC project cuz of how much work it entails- not a good idea to do a big project for a first quest.
- development on headcanons for Zelda and Dragon Ball slowed to a crawl. Rather disorganized on the latter.

Also, for those not in the know: Bob from Sodor Workshops has stumbled upon an amazing thing while browsing the app/site LetGo.

As it turns out, the large scale prop of Lady from TATMRR has survived all these years. He and the Restore the Magic group are looking to acquire it and have it restored to its former golden glory.

Here's what we know about it:

The owner came upon the model via his job at U-haul. Back when TATMRR was premiering stateside, he was tasked with shipping the prop from New York to Los Angeles. After the premier, the studio (presumably Gullane), had removed the majority of its Thomas-like features. These include the coal bunker, her lamps, her whistle, her dome and her buffers. The studio was planning to scrap the model anyway, however they allowed him to keep it instead. He stored it in a shed at his workplace until management complained (which from what I gather must have been over a long period of time, maybe years?), then he took it home. Out of fear of copyright action, he decided to repaint her into a Christmas engine, with imagery of a snowman, tree and stocking on the side tanks that said "Happy Holidays From Our Family to Yours". He also modified the smokebox for "a more Disney-like feel". According to Bob, who's seen photos of the prop in its Christmas prime, despite her confiscated parts, she still looked glorious, especially when covered in lights. Sadly prop is in bad shape now. The front bufferbeam had rotted and fallen off, though later it was replaced with a near identical plywood one. Her coupling rods are messed up, and the whistle chain is frayed. Her side tanks are completely green now, with the Christmas imagery covered up. Well, all except for one strip. This strip is of her original TATMRR livery, to keep her legacy alive in a sense. Her coupling rods are a bit wonky, and her chain driven parts, which were used to move her in shots in the movie, need readjusting and realigning, but she IS 100% functional otherwise. Her funnel has also been shortened, and retains some of her original gold and plum (idk how to describe her livery tbh) colors.

Amazing, isn't it? This owner, despite her currently rough state, really did care about the prop and gave her a good home and a new purpose. He's asking for $2000 for the prop, and so Restore the Magic has set up a GoFundMe to try and acquire the model. TATMRR might have been crap because of the changes made, but there's no denying that like it or not, the Lady prop is an important part of the Thomas TV series history. If you'd like to donate to the cause, here is the link to the GoFundMe:

www.gofundme.com/RTM-Restore-L…

It's a steep goal, and we're going to need a lot of help. Britt Alcroft has already been informed (though no comment thus far), and Lily's actress Mara Wilson even retweeted about the campaign, though unsurprisingly, it's buried under several other tweets right now. (She tweets A LOT). I will be donating a small amount myself tomorrow. After/if this campaign succeeds, there will be a second one in future, to cover the costs of restoring and transporting her to a home that will care for her. Where that is, we dunno. Only time will tell.

Restore the Magic.