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TOP HAT
STAR TUGS #4
RAILWAY TUG
VOICED BY JOHN BADDELEY
THE CHARACTER
Top Hat is the only Railway Tug in Captain Star's fleet - also unique for being the only tug in Bigg City with a raised wheelhouse. With his trademark monocle and hat wear, Top Hat believes himself a cut above the rest of the fleet: an uppity character who tries to avoid any dirty jobs if possible, which have resulted in slight disagreements between him and the Captain.
Top Hat's main job is working at the rail head, with the railway barges Frank and Eddie, transporting railway wagons across the Port, but on occasion (and reluctantly) he would be put in charge of Warrior's garbage duties when Warrior would be busy with other work.
Top Hat would have a tendency to grumble about anything uncouth to him, which is where part of the series' humour is drawn from - he was also one of the few who were doubtful (and fearful) over Billy Shoepack's method to blow the old tramper apart with dynamite, but was left impressed when the alligator tug had succeeded.
However, for all his elegance and sophistication, Top Hat has proven he is as capable of making mistakes as the next tug. Believing himself to be lost one foggy night, and after a frightening encounter with the "Ghost Fleet", Top Hat moored up for the night at a pier - where Grampus revealed next morning that he was only 500 yards from home!
All the same, Top Hat is still willing to pull his weight in a great emergency, particularly if one of his own crew mates happened to be in trouble. When Ten Cents was stuck trying to save Izzy Gomez from keeling over, Top Hat tried to lend a hand by using Lord Stinker to prop up the tramp steamer. However, when Zebedee's girder barge severely damaged the railway bridge above the canal, it was through Lord Stinker that Top Hat learnt how to remain calm under pressure. His own resourcefulness at using the steel section to prop up the bridge was enough to save the Mail Train - but when the bridge collapsed by the pressure, Lord Stinker urged Top Hat to use him as a "soft landing" to save the Goods Engine from finishing up in the canal. Since then, Top Hat has gained great respect from the old garbage barge!
THE MODEL
Unfortunatly, Top Hat’s model is one of the two major characters not to be in The Star Tugs Company's ownership
We currently have no conclusive leads on where the model could be or what has happened to it. Investigations have been ongoing for some time, but so far nothing conclusive has been drawn.
We do however own the face masks for the model which were auctioned on eBay in June 2012. All they need now is a Tug model to go with them!
There have been numerous hoaxes over the years but obviously if anyone does have a real lead on where this elusive tug might be, other than the obvious, we do encourage you to get in touch and maybe one day Top Hat can join the rest of the Star Fleet on display!
