Review: A Day Out with Thomas Train Event

If you have a toddler and haven’t heard of Thomas The Tank Engine then you need to get out more. Thomas stories started as a series of tales by Reverend Wilbert Awdry to tell to his son who was confined to bed with the measles. Initially there was Edward, Gordon and Henry. Pressed by his wife, Reverend Awdry passed the stories scribbled on a piece of paper off to a publisher. The first book was published in 1945. That Christmas Reverend Awdry made a little wooden toy steam engine for his son and named it Thomas. He published a book each year thereafter about Thomas and his friends until 1972.

Today, Thomas and Friends is a marketing bonanza. There are wooden, die cast and battery powered trains, books, videos, wood and plastic track and whole train sets based on Thomas. Hobby stores will have whole walls of the merchandise.

Historic railways now host and event called “A Day out With Thomas” where a life sized Thomas the Tank Engine is featured pulling a series of coaches that kids can ride to get a feel of what its like to ride on a real train. The popularity of the series is amazing to me since most of these kids will never be able to experience trains on a regular basis in this day and age. A helicopter, bus and some other more modern forms of transport have been added to the series but it is still largely all about trains.

My three year old son is fascinated with these toy trains so when my wife and I heard that the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Peninsula, Ohio on the outskirts of Cleveland was gong to sponsor a Day Out With Thomas, we had to get tickets. It was a beautiful spring day with a few puffy clouds. We arrived on the scene and started walking around. There was Thomas everywhere. Set up in various tents were trains sets for the kids to play with. One tent featured a giant Linoel electric set with large scale Thomas trains whirling around the track operated by train enthusiasts. You could get a temporary tattoo at the tattoo tent. Of course there was the requisite food and beverage tent. There was the mother of all Thomas stores in the gift shop tent. This stuff isn’t cheap and the merchandise was flying out through the cash register continually. Every kind of merchandise you can imagine was available all displaying some form of Thomas marketing. There were t-shirts, caps, plates, bowls and all sorts of trains and train sets everywhere. All surrounded by a swarming throng of kids. Our son was in absolute heaven. It struck be a bit odd that the whole gift tent was on the honor system. The sets they had set up for the kids to play with were all right out in the open with very expensive merchandise right there on the pricey Thomas play tables. The merchandise was on display in the wide open tent with a cash register set up on the far end. Our son had been asking for a “Henry” train for some time so we got him that and some other train cars along with a shirt, a railway cap, a neat sippy cup with snack compartment and a place setting for the dinner table. How can you resist? He is so proud of his Thomas stuff. He would show off his Thomas tattoo to anyone who would pay attention.

I saw kids calling out to the life sized Thomas steam engine and a large inflatable replica saying “hi Thomas!”

It came time for our turn to ride the actual train. Parents with kids under toe lined up in a manner reminiscent passenger train era. It was an actual old station after all. There were real conductors dressed the part and a clown walking through the cars entertaining kids and adults alike. I heard one parent explaining to their child that grandpa used to work on the trains. Possibly that was their impetus to take part in the event.

Slowly the train pulled away from the station and we traveled slowly through woods, swamp, and across railroad crossings traversing local roads. After a while the train came to a stop and reversed its course as we traveled back to the original location. The whole trip took about 25 minutes. The life sized Thomas was on one end and a real locomotive on the other. I’m not sure how functional the “big Thomas” was but it was a thrill for the kids when real steam came from its stack and a very authentic whistle tooted to their delight. My feeling was that the engine on the other end was doing all the real work. The train cars seemed to be left over from the days when they were more useful. There was an oily odor that gave you a sense of a time gone by. The cars were just like you see in old movies. I must admit I enjoyed the trip almost as much as my son. Donned with his newly purchased conductors cap he looked out the window in wonderment. It warmed our heart to see him have so much fun.

If your little one is a Thomas fan this event will provide a lifetime memory. You can find out where these events are going to be held at this web site… www.ticketweb.com. More info on the whole Thomas world is hereâÂ?¦ www.thomasthetankengine.com.

If you plan on going to see the “big Thomas,” bring your wallet or you’ll have a very disappointed child.