A large road float of Thomas was constructed sometime in 1992 and was used as part of the Inaugural Parade for Bill Clinton, when he was sworn in as US President on January 20th 1993. Other PBS characters from the era were also present at the parade, including Barney, Big Bird, and Fred Rogers, among others, with Thomas obviously being the only one of these portrayed by his own float. The Float was subsequently used in 1996 for the "Kids for Character" VHS-Tape, which had a song of the same name, which featured the float in a crowd full of characters from various other franchises. In 2000, the float was seen driving around in the Sweepstakes Giveaway commercial for Thomas and the Magic Railroad which aired on Nick Jr. in the US. The float is still in existence today, and since at-least 2005 it has become one of the annual attractions around Christmastime at the New York Botanical Gardens. The float is motorized and the eyes are remote-controlled so that they can be moved around.
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