Other Characters in TUGS

This article is based on a section of fictional characters from the 1988 children's series: TUGS from the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

Garbage Corporation
The owner of the Garbage Corporation yard. Organises the 'Municipal Garbage Corporation' float for the annual regatta. He appears in a famous scene from Regatta. He is voiced by Timothy Bateson.

Quarry Master
The owner of the rock quarry. Appears briefly in Warrior. He is voiced by John Baddeley.

Sally Seaplane
Sally is a sea plane, friend of the Star Fleet who have the contract to provide her fuel. Sunshine appears to have a slight crush on her. She appears only briefly in a selected number of episodes and spoke only in Sunshine.

Sally's techincal definiton is a flying boat because her main source of boyancy, like a ship, comes from her hull/fuselage with small floats on each wing to stablise her, unlike the other form of seaplane - the 'floatplane' which uses a normal aircraft fuselage with large floats slung underneath to support it on water - it's never been documented as to whether Sally also has landing gear that would enable her to land on runways - if so she would technically be classified as an Amphibious Flying Boat.

Sally's tail-number is S-ALLY, a fictional sequence that would not be assigned to a real plane - any civil aircraft registered in the United States has a tail-number beginning with the letter 'N'.

Puffa
Puffa is a steam locomotive who works on the dockside railway at Bigg City Port. Used for a variety of tasks within the port and at the docks up river, he is a trusted friend of the Star Fleet and Warrior in particular. He has two named appearances in Up River and Munitions, and an unnamed cameo in High Tide. Other trains seen around Bigg City have the same whistle-sound and feature similar stylings to Puffa. In Munitions, the character was warned by Ten Cents, OJ, Zorran, Zak and Zeebedee to escape from a dockside fire. In the episode Up River, he raced down river from the logging camps inland to warn Top Hat, Warrior & OJ that runaway logs were heading their way. He is voiced by John Baddeley. In Salty's Lighthouse he was called Stanley in one episode and Chooch in another.

Puffa is seemingly based on no particular prototype but has characterstics common to many switcher/shunter locomotives including a short wheelbase and oversized cylinders for his diminutive size - he also features many US features including an American-style whistle, oil-burning headlight, diamond somkestack and a cowcatcher. He, like cranes, speaks through loudhailers. His other features however suggest he was modified from a model locomotive of German outline, which seems likely as the German modelmakers Marklin supplied components for the model locomotives in TUGS sister show, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.

Parts of Puffa have made several appearances in episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine, often painted to appear rusty and used to decorate sets as 'scrap' components.

The Goods Engine
A locomotive other than Puffa appeared in Tugs was a tank engine which made several cameo appearances, most noteably in 'High Tide' where it was identified as 'the goods engine'. Like Puffa, it's parts were later recycled to serve as props for rusty, old steam engines seen at scrap yards in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. One of the most famous TTTE appearances is in the 1991 Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party episode, when either Puffa or the Goods Engine's boiler can be seen in the scrap yard.

The goods engine superficially resembles an 0-6-0 US Army tank engine, but more accurately looks more like a very slightly modified 0-6-0 engine as mass-produced by the German modelmakers Marklin. Pointers towards this include the un-American features such as buffers and stovepipe chimney, which were not modified as was Puffa to disguise the Goods Engines as a machine of American pattern.

The Buoys
There are several bell buoy's to be found across Bigg City Port, most of them yellow. Notably, one appeared very briefly in Pirate, having been 'silenced' by the pirates in order to make their escape. Also, in the episode Jinxed, a "Wreck" Buoy appeared very briefly, as well as when Ten Cents hoots his whistle to test the Jinx, a nearby marker buoy sinks. This was the only appearance of these two buoys.