Day Out With Thomas 2014:
Florida Railroad Museum, Parrish
Florida Railroad Museum, Parrish
March 2014. 9 March 2014 and the last run of the Florida Railroad Museum's Murder Mystery Express. Right after we put the train away in the Willow yard it was time to switch rapidly from Murder Mystery mode to Day Out With Thomas mode. It was time to transform the Parrish station from a train station into a festive Thomas the Tank Engine centered event! I got to set up all the technical aspects of Day Out With Thomas including getting the computers ready for the Thomas gift shop and the ticket booth area including the will call desk.
On the weekends of the event on 15-16 and 22-23 March 2014 I got to see Day Out With Thomas unfold at the Florida Railroad Museum in Parrish. Unlike 2013's event I did more than work on the ground: Not only I got to help set up the event, I was on the train crew!
A typical day started out with the mandatory crew briefing on board the train by the conductor including the crew assignments. I got to work the various cars including the Florida Railroad Museum's newest acquisition, the ACL 250 lounge car where I got to work the concession stand. If I was not in the concession stand, I was busy entertaining the children on board the train.
I know the smiles I have seen on the children's faces from the time they were on the train to the time I gave them their Junior Engineer's Certificates just before we returned to Parrish, where the children were given an opportunity to have their picture taken with Thomas the Engine. We had ten trips per weekend day from our station in Parrish to a point just south of Dickey Road in the area where the Florida Railroad Museum holds its Hole In The Head Gang Train Robbery event. We could not do a full run to Willow like we do with our regularly scheduled runs as the trip time would take longer.
We had ten trips per event weekend day in which we ran the train from Parrish to just south of Dickey Road at the grounds where the Train Robbery event takes place. We could not do a full run to Willow or we would have had to cut the number of trips back. Each trip - especially towards the middle of the day - was crowded and the turnout was awesome. The cars towards the Thomas engine were the most popular place to be on board.
There was plenty of fun for everyone, both on board the train and at the Parrish station. There were inflatable slides for the children to play on, there was storytelling and video viewing as well as arts and crafts to name a few. Of course everyone wanted their pictures taken with Thomas the Tank Engine as well as Sir Topham Hatt, the controller of the Sodor Railway. I can tell that the children had a great time! In fact, I can't wait for Day Out With Thomas 2015!
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the pictures from Day Out With Thomas 2014 at the Florida Railroad Museum in Parrish!
