Thomas The Tank Engine in Medina

Did anyone go?

Chris

According to WGRZ tv, about 19000 attended over the weekend.
Don

yes, Friday the 6th. My son who is four really enjoyed the show. Hats off to all the volunteers for a smooth no hassel day from parking, to shuttle to train no problems. I f you have children and tickets are still to be had GO!

Hey,
Where is Thomas being stored, my daughter is disappointed that we won't be able to attend so I was thinking that tomorrow after I pick her up from school we could take a ride out and at least take a look at Thomas. She wanted to write a letter to send to Thomas, but I think seeing him in "person" would be more fun.

From what I remember from a previous thread the Thomas gets put under a tarp or in a truck when not in use, so you may not have much luck going out there.

Don wrote:According to WGRZ tv, about 19000 attended over the weekend.

19,000?? Or 1900?

Over 20,000 tickets have been sold and a few thousand more have come without the train ride. It is a fabulous event. You can come and enjoy the event without riding the train.

Hey,
I went out there to see what I could see, as posted earlier Thomas was under a tarp. The set was staged on a track adjacent to the Medina Freight Station. I wish I could attend the event it looks like the town is going all out! Therewere numerous vendor tents set along the R.O.W. in the area of the museum grounds. The museum would be worth the trip alone, we managed to get in to see the layout, my daughter and I, much scenery work has been completed since the last time I was out there. The NYC cars looked very nice, who do they belong to? Maybee there will be an event like this again in the future I would definately make arrangements to check it out!

i took my grandkids to thomas today. light crowd but it was also a friday afternoon. everyone working there did a good job. even saw a gvt railroad police officer patrolling the event. i did not think a shortline would have a police force.

only complaints was the ride was too short like only 20 minutes and vendor food very expensive. ticket price was steep but was worth it for the kids. i presume much of it was run by the thomas people.

i hope the museum got a good percentage of the ticket proceeds. the layout in the museum looks great.

Thomas will be back next year.
His organization sets the ride time to garner 12 trips in 8 hours.
The train goes west 2 miles and returns.
One Medina cop said "the first time I've seen more than a dozen
people on Main st in the daytime".
There have been quite a lot of adult railfans riding.
I think they use their grandkids as an excuse.

Hi All and Conrail71! The coaches belong to the Western New York Railway Historical Society. This is the second year that the Falls Road Railroad has leased them for the entire season. The guys in the Society have put a ton of effort into making sure that the cars were Spic and Span (remember that stuff?) for the event. We also have two guys on each car to help everyone on and off for each trip and to answer questions. The Thomas© People were very impressed with how well everything ran for a first time event with them. Thanks to all the work Marty P. and his Medina Museum Crew and our work with the train set. It was only a few years ago that the Museum got pulled off the auction block in the 11th hour and this would have never happened. Hope you get a chance to ride next year.

http://www.trainweb.org/wnyrhs/passenger.htm

We took our nephew and niece there yesterday. Their family rode the train, the rest of us didn't but there was plenty to do. The RRHS in Medina did a fantastic job and the Thomas crew were very pleased with the turnout and the way things were organized. One of the crew said that all the trains were sold out in advance - 20,000 tickets. People came from as far away as Ohio, North Carolina, Tenessee, and even Europe (Nove Scotia).

They had entertainment for the kids when they weren't on the train, and for the big kids the freight station which houses the RRHS was a class act in how to build a RR museum from a RR station; beautiful restoration of period office display, a huge model layout, and walls lined with antique models and RR stuff. The two items that stood out was the pristine 1898 NYO&W timetable and the G scale PRR T-1, obviously a custom job ("Rickard" badge on the boiler).

Alco U420 was the power for the Thomas train.

If anybody missed it, take your kids next year.

u=c

STEAM ON
/--OOO--~-oo--oo-

C420.

Argh...

An alco is nice, but where is "Diesel" the naughty black three-axle engine? THAT is what they need for the trains to help Thomas along. By the way, did anyone take pictures that they could post online?