Day Out with Thomas

Day Out with Thomas is a trade name, licensed by Mattel for tourist events that take place on heritage railways and feature one or more engines decorated to look like characters from the popular long-running classic British children's television series (Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends). The events are held around the world in Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. They include a full-day of activities for families in addition to rides on trains pulled by the iconic engine (Thomas).

Family activities
Day Out With Thomas family events include interactive train rides and activities like live entertainment, scavenger hunts, bounce houses, mazes, lawn games, and stage shows. For example, at select events in Ohio, families could have fun with a straw bale maze, bounce castles, portable mini golf, model train displays, balloon artists, and Thomas Wooden Railway train tables.

In addition to seeing Thomas and other train engines from the show, there are also appearances by and chances to meet characters like Sir Topham Hatt and Rusty and Dusty. The events usually last all day and are attended by thousands of people.

Full-scale Thomas engines
The Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough in England was the very first railway in the world to possess a full-scale replica of Thomas. This was an industrial tank engine built by Hudswell Clarke in 1947. It has been nicknamed "Thomas" due to its bright blue livery and resemblance to the famous tank engine. In 1971, the Rev. W. Awdry made the name official.

Since then other tank engines around the world have been dressed up as Thomas. Some heritage railways (most notably the Strasburg Rail Road and Mid Hants Railway) built working locomotives from original engines. This caused some controversy among railway preservationists who claimed it disfigured historic locomotives and trivialized the preservation movement. However, those in favor claimed the new projects would draw much-needed visitors and would help associate interest into steam and diesel engines and historical train travel with young children. Since then, railways experienced an increase of income with appearance fees for "Thomases" to railways that do not have a Thomas replica of their own.

From 2008 onwards, many heritage railways in the UK have withdrawn their "Day Out With Thomas" events due to HiT's revised licensing conditions (which includes the requirement for enhanced criminal records (CRB) checks on all the railway's staff and volunteers). However, the "Day Out With Thomas" events have thrived in the United States and Canada.

Australia
In Australia, several railways have hosted Day Out With Thomas events: in New South Wales the Zig Zag Railway, Lithgow, and the NSW Rail Museum, Thirlmere; in Queensland, the Workshop Rail Museum; and in Victoria the Puffing Billy Railway and the Bellarine Railway.

Netherlands
In the Netherlands annually, these events are held at Het Spoorwegmuseum in Utrecht.

New Zealand
In New Zealand, Mainline Steam's Bagnall tank locomotive has appeared as Thomas on a number of different locations (including at the Britomart Transport Centre in Auckland and has also appeared at the extremely popular biannual "Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine" weekends at the Glenbrook Vintage Railway (south of Auckland)).

United Kingdom
Many heritage railways up and down the UK have hosted Day Out With Thomas events over the years; some events feature just Thomas himself (whilst others (such as the Watercress Line, East Lancashire Railway, East Anglian Railway Museum, Whistlestop Valley, Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway and the Caledonian Railway (Brechin) also feature some of Thomas' friends such as Percy, James, Toby, Diesel, Mavis and Duck)). As of 2022, 9 Heritage Railways in the UK host Day Out With Thomas events. Some railways also host ‘Festive’ Day Out With Thomas which features Father Christmas and additional activities. As a result of the licensing costs and other demands imposed by Mattel/HiT, some railways have replaced their Thomas events with similar ones which also feature engines with faces.

U.K. Railways that Have Day Out With Thomas events

 * Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
 * East Lancashire Railway
 * Mid-Hants Railway
 * East Anglian Railway Museum
 * Whistlestop Valley
 * Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway
 * Swindon & Cricklade Railway
 * Caledonian Railway (Brechin)
 * Spa Valley Railway
 * Tyseley Locomotive Works

Other Railways
These events are distinct from Day Out with Thomas (instead being licensed through the Awdry family).
 * Nene Valley Railway
 * Talyllyn Railway

United States and Canada
Events have been held in many U.S. states (including Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Maryland, Washington, California, Ohio, and North Carolina). In Canada, Thomas has visited locations including Toronto, Calgary, and Squamish.

Engines
In the United States there are six Thomas replicas: one that is an actual steam locomotive, and the other five that are dummy units. All were decorated or built by the Strasburg Railroad, with the real steam engine being decorated from Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal No. 15. The dummy units usually consist of a steam or diesel locomotive operated as a pusher (with an unpowered Thomas engine at the opposite end (or in narrow gauge railroads (both the pusher and the unit are at the front))). Thomas's whistle is a compressed air whistle and it is powered by the train's compressed air system. One unit is 3 foot narrow gauge (while the other four are standard gauge). An additional 2 foot narrow gauge replica operated at the Edaville Railroad for their Thomas Land themed area until 2022.

While in transit between events, Thomas' face is covered to prevent it from getting damaged or dirtied. The dummy units are transported from location to location via flatbed truck. Thomas appears in full dress at Day Out With Thomas events hosted by railroads in arrangement with Mattel. Many of the larger railroad museums and tourist railroads across the United States host Day out with Thomas events periodically. The same trains are also used for the three Canadian events (in BC, Alberta and Ontario). The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin was the first railroad museum in the United States to host a "Day Out With Thomas" event (unveiling a small Thomas replica in December 1996).

In September 2014, a full-scale replica of Percy was built which is also a dummy unit. Before Percy's introduction, Thomas' original face was replaced in April 2014 with an animatronic CGI-style face allowing the mouth to open and close and speak prerecorded dialogue through a voice speaker. Initially, the voice lines for Thomas are provided by Martin Sherman (Thomas' voice actor from 2009-2015) while the voice lines for Percy were provided by Christopher Ragland (voice actor for Percy from 2015-2021).

In 2019, Mavis the diesel engine (introduced in Tramway Engines, the last of the original books) was introduced at the Strasburg Rail Road's event "Thomas, Mavis, and the Strasburg Spooktacular". Strasburg's SW8 #8618 switcher was redressed as Mavis for the event.

In 2020, the Strasburg Railroad introduced Rusty. Rusty is represented by the Strasburg Railroad's Plymouth Gas Locomotive #2 with altered lettering in a similar fashion to how Mavis was created. So far, Rusty has not run any trains but is instead on display for photo opportunities.

In 2022, the Thomas dummy units had their voices re-recorded by Meesha Contreras to fit with the 2021 reboot, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go. The Percy unit also had his lines re-recorded by his then voice actor Charlie Zeltzer. The steam locomotive at Strasburg retains Martin Sherman as its voice actor. Despite this, the engines have not changed, and retain the original designs.

Japan


Japan's Oigawa Railway started running Thomas events in 2014. Families can travel from Shin-Kanaya Station to Senzu Station. There are activities and treats during the ride and at both terminals.

Engines and characters
The Thomas used at the Oigawa Railway is a modified and repainted version of the railway's existing JNR Class C11 227 locomotive. In addition to Thomas, two other locomotives at the railway were rethemed: The JNR Class 9600 49616 became a Hiro replica and was put on display at the station yard of Senzu Station while the Class DB1 No. DB9 became a Rusty replica.

In 2015, the railway introduced James, who was repainted from their JNR Class C56 No. 44 locomotive. The railway also refurbished and redecorated their disused JNR Class C12 No. 208 engine as a non-functioning replica of Percy, which sits alongside the Class 9600 that is decorated to resemble Hiro.

In 2016, a Hino Poncho bus was redecorated into a replica of Bertie. The Troublesome Trucks were also introduced, and are pulled by Rusty.

In 2018, a replica of Winston the track inspection car was introduced and guests can ride and operate him by peddling. A replica of Flynn The Fire Engine was introduced in 2019, followed by a replica of Bulgy the double-decker bus in 2020 which runs alongside the existing replica of Bertie.

The Thomas locomotive was given a repaint in 2021 under the guise of his green L.B.S.C. livery from the 2015 direct-to-video special Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins.

In August 2022, a Toby the Tram Engine replica, modified and repainted from a DD20 diesel engine, was added to the lineup.