This may be the only other museum piece that didn't run on British track (we're talking about the famous Thomas the Tank Engine, not Jane, of course). We stopped and bought some Thomas paraphernalia for the grandchildren. Thomas has his own gift shop in the Great Hall.
Turns out there are over 65 Thomas the Tank Engine books put out by a British father-son succession. The father, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, wrote the first title for his three-year-old son. It was published in 1945 followed by 25 more. The son, Christopher, then assumed the mantle when his son was three. Christopher added 14 more titles. Total sales are about 80 million world wide with 25 million in the US, a place not known to be much interested in trains.
Britt Allcroft converted the books to successful children's TV shows in the UK and US.