What I have learned from the experts here is that the makers of those Amtrak etc. sets was Tomica World which was Tomy/Plarail for sale in the US but it never caught on so they decided to no longer have a US division as it wasn't successful. Personally, I am not that interested in them retaining the Thomas license although I do see why others would. No, I would much rather see them expand into creating more replica trains for different parts of the world like you say as it seems that they have just about exhausted what the Japanese trains have to offer. I guess this would all depend on how well their target audience is interested in models from around the world which is mostly the Japan & Asia market. I think it would be a good test for their market if they found an unusual train from some other country to see if it would be welcomed in their market area. I know I would be all over it.
Is this the set you had as a boy? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trackmaster-THOM...4ae29f87b4
Is this the set you had as a boy? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trackmaster-THOM...4ae29f87b4
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