How many "Steam Along" Thomas variations?

My biggest gripe with the steam along Thomas is [that] because Annie is driven & Thomas is pushed, the activation tab for the tracks is positioned under Annie. This makes it unsuitable for the Plarail auto switching track, [since] Thomas is already across the points before the tab activates the changeover, and you end up with a derail[ment].
I do like the sound & steam Thomas, but I think if it had been thought out a bit better, they would've [just] left the tab off [altogether].

It does have the advantage of pulling up at platforms "correctly"; if a stop/go piece is placed right next to a station, the engine stops instead of the coaches. For that reason, I always used to place stop/go pieces ahead of the stations on my layouts.