Thomas the Tank Engine Pulls Into Arkville for Miles of Smiles

For the first time in over 15 years, Day Out With Thomas™ at the Delaware & Ulster Railroad offers children and their families some Shining Time Station fun, including a 25 minute ride with Thomas the Tank Engine™ and the chance to meet Sir Topham Hatt™, the Controller of the Railway as part of the Steam Team Tour. Thomas was created by a dad who still remembered what it was like to be a little boy. When Wilbert Vere Audry was nine, his family moved to a house in Wiltshire where he slept just 200 yards from the Great Western Railway’s main line. A “helper engine” was stationed nearby to make sure the trains could make the steep incline, and Wilbert fell asleep listening to the engines signaling back and forth. In the young boy’s mind, the hardworking engines had distinct personalities.

And when his little son Christopher was down with measles and needed some special stories, Audry — a reverend and lifelong rail buff — drew on those long-ago train whistles and began creating what would ultimately become the world of Thomas the Tank Engine™ and Shining Time Station, beloved by kids on both sides of the Atlantic.
Day Out With Thomas has a Thomas & Friends Imagination Station with Thomas-themed activities including temporary tattoos, hands-on arts and crafts, and a Thomas storytelling and video viewing area. Also included with your ticket will be hand car rides, a Thomas bounce house, face painting and a hay bale maze.

In addition, visitors can enjoy a magical act by Marty the Magician. Delaware & Ulster Railroad provides free parking for the event and will have food vendors available on site.

Come to Arkville and get in on the fun Friday, August 9-Sunday, August 11th or Friday, August 16-Sunday, August 18.