Days Out with Thomas

Day Out with Thomas (Originally named Friends of Thomas the Tank Engine) is a trade name licensed by HiT Entertainment for tourist events that take place on heritage railways and feature one or more engines decorated to look like characters from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.

History
The Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough in England was the first railway in the world to possess a full-scale replica Thomas. This was an industrial tank engine built by Hudswell Clarke that had been nicknamed "Thomas" due to its blue livery and resemblance to the famous tank engine. In 1971 the Reverend W. Awdry made the name official. HiT Entertainment later tried - unsuccessfully - to sue the Nene Valley Railway on the grounds that the engine was breaching their trademark. The case was dismissed as the name was given by the Reverend W. Awdry.

Since then, other tank engines around the world have been dressed up as Thomas. Some railways have gone so far as to rebuild locomotives in order to produce a better replica. This has divided preservationists: those opposed claim it disfigures historic locomotives and trivialises the preservation movement; those in favour claim they draw visitors and can kindle an interest in children.

Many "Thomas'" aren't actually real engines; they are really "shells" built around a smoke machine.

Some railways have developed a further source of income in the hire of "Thomases" to railways that do not have a "Thomas" of their own.

United Kingdom
Many railways now host Day Out With Thomas events. Some feature just Thomas, while others feature other engines like Diesel, Percy, Donald and Douglas, Duck, Oliver, James, Henry, Toby, Bill and Ben, Spencer, Fergus, Daisy, S. C. Ruffey, Toad, the Diesel, and Mavis.

The Talyllyn Railway have "Duncan Days" events, in which they dress up some of their locomotives as the Skarloey Railway engines. The engines are repainted red, to match their Railway Series counterparts, Duncan is a pivotal character during this events. The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway often have special events similar to this, in which they dress up some of their locomotives to resemble the Arlesdale Railway engines.

United States
There are seven travelling "Thomases", all standard gauge except for two narrow gauge engines. While travelling between events, the engines are disguised. Thomas appears in full dress at Day Out with Thomas events hosted by railroads in arrangement with HiT Entertainment. Many of the larger railroad museums and tourist railroads host Day Out with Thomas events periodically.

There are two real engines (One coal fired, one oil fired) and five dummies. The five dummies were made at Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania. The coal fired engine is former Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal #15, converted into a Thomas replica in 1999. It currently resides at the Strasburg Railroad and is lent out to other railroads from time to time. The oil fired engine travels between Essex Steam Train, the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad, and the NC Transportation Museum. In 2014, all of the dummies along with the BEDT#15 engine were updated with a CGI-style face and animatronic features, allowing Thomas to "talk". The NC Transportation Museum's 2014 event will feature a full-sized replica of Percy, making it the first US event to feature engines other than Thomas.

New Zealand
Mainline Steam's Bagnall tank engine has appeared as "Thomas" on a number of different locations, including the extremely popular biannual "Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine" weekends at the Glenbrook Vintage Railway. In the Hutt Valley, the Silver Stream Railway has a Thomas-like engine on display at its entrance.

Australia

 * In Queensland, The Workshops Rail Museum adds faces to their engines, coaches, and road vehicles resembling Edward, Lady, Donald, Douglas, D199, Annie, Clarabel, Trevor, and George. An engine previously used for James is currently undergoing an overhaul. The event also uses a life size Thomas replica which is not a real engine.
 * In Victoria, the 2 ft 6in Puffing Billy Railway decorates their 0-4-0st Pekett as Thomas.
 * In New South Wales, the Zig Zag Railway, Lithgow held an event referred to as "Friends of Thomas", utilizing engines resembling Thomas, James, Donald, and Douglas. Thomas events at the Zig Zag have discontinued with the closure of the line on June 17th, 2012. The NSW Rail Transport Museum, Thirlmere also holds an event, with engines resembling Thomas, Toby, Henry, and Donald.

Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the "Zuid Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschapij" (South Limburg Steam Engine Railway) has a "Day out with Thomas" once a year. For this event, they get a steam engine, which looks like Thomas, from the United Kingdom. They use different engines, depending on the engine they get each year. They use their own engines as Thomas' friends.

Japan
In Japan, a C11-227 steam locomotive was decorated as Thomas by placing a face on the smokebox, as well as painting the body blue and adding a "splasher" on the runningboard. This engine will run in the summer of 2014 on the Oigawa Railway in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture. In addition, a JNR Class 9600, which displayed at the station yard of Senzu Station, has been decorated as Hiro.

Thomas will run daily on a 37.2-kilometer route between Shinkanaya Station in Shimada and Senzu Station in Kawane-Honcho in the prefecture for about two months. Three coaches that the engine will be pulling have been painted orange, in the vein of Annie and Clarabel.

Off the Rails
Since 2008 many heritage railways in the UK have withdrawn their Day out With Thomas events due to HiT's revised licensing conditions, which include the requirement for enhanced criminal records (CRB) checks on railway staff and volunteers and training courses for actors playing The Fat Controller. Several railways were affected and have not had Thomas back on their events list since. "Jimmy the Jinty" took over for the East Lancashire Railway in 2009. Despite a two year absence, taken over by Underground Ernie, the Thomas license returned to Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway in 2010.

Events at the Elsecar Heratige Railway were axed in 2010 due to the new prices and had been replaced by Peppa Pig until 2013. Thomas also left the Great Central Railway in 2009 and was replaced by Ivor the Engine until 2012. However, Thomas returned to the East Lancashire Railway as of 2011 and a year later was welcomed back at the Severn Valley Railway, Churnet Valley Railway, and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. however the Midland Railway Centre and the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway, both announced that due to spiraling costs and a decline in the number of visitors to their Thomas events, they will no longer be hosting events during 2013, but the first time in five years, events returned to the North Norfolk Railway, as from 2014, the East Somerset Railway will be cutting Thomas weekends.

After ending the partnership held with Mega Blocks since 2010 and now partnered with Fisher Price, the franchise relaunched in 2013 with a new website and with expanded promotion and advertising. However, due to the changes, only twenty railways in the UK now hold a license for Thomas weekends. According to a plan on slideshare.net, the current license is expected to last up until 2015. The Nene Valley Railway is currently overhauling their Thomas loco.

UK

 * Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway
 * Caledonian Railway
 * Colne Valley Railway
 * Dean Forest Railway
 * East Lancashire Railway
 * Gloucester Warwickshire Railway
 * Kent & East Sussex Railway
 * Kirklees Light Railway
 * Llangollen Railway
 * Mid-Hants Railway
 * Nene Valley Railway
 * North Norfolk Railway
 * South Devon Railway

Former UK Railways

 * The National Railway Museum
 * Battlefield Line Railway
 * North Yorkshire Moors Railway
 * Midland Railway Centre
 * Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway
 * East Lancashire Railway
 * Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
 * Severn Valley Railway
 * Churnet Valley Railway
 * Cleethorpes Light Railway
 * Telford Steam Railway
 * Wensleydale Railway
 * Elsecar Heratige Railway
 * Swanage Railway
 * Great Central Railway
 * East Somerset Railway

US/Canada

 * Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
 * Roaring Camp Railroads
 * Orange Empire Railway
 * Colorado Railroad Museum
 * Essex Steam Train
 * Gold Coast Railroad Museum
 * Florida Railroad Museum
 * Sam Shortline
 * Illinois Railway Museum
 * Whitewater Valley Railroad
 * French Lick Scenic Railway
 * Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad
 * Midland Railway
 * Kentucky Railway Museum
 * Boothbay Railway Village
 * B&O Railroad Museum
 * Edaville USA
 * Henry Ford Museum
 * Crossroads V & Huckleberry RR
 * North Shore Scenic Railroad
 * Tweetsie Railroad
 * NC Transportation Museum
 * Conway Scenic Railroad
 * Delaware River RR Excursions
 * Medina Railroad Museum
 * Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
 * Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad
 * Oklahoma Railway Museum
 * Strasburg Rail Road
 * Tennessee Valley Railroad
 * Tennessee Central Railway
 * Austin Steam Train
 * Grapevine Vintage Railroad
 * Northwest Railway Museum
 * National Railroad Museum
 * Heritage Park Historical Village
 * West Coast Railway Heritage Park
 * Prairie Dog Central Railway
 * Elgin County Railway Museum

Australia/New Zealand

 * The Workshops Rail Museum
 * Puffing Billy Railway
 * Glenbrook Vintage Railway
 * Trainworks Rail Heritage

Trivia

 * Some events feature characters who are exclusive to the Railway Series. On other occasions, they introduce "new" unofficial characters.