Day Out With Thomas Duluth

Day Out with Thomas Duluth (originally named Friends of Thomas the Tank Engine Duluth) is a trade name licensed by Mattel (formerly HiT Entertainment) for tourist events that take place in Duluth, Minnesota and feature one or more engines decorated to look like characters from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.

## The Event

There are seven travelling "Thomases", all standard gauge except for two 3'0" (narrow gauge) engines. While travelling between events, the engines are disguised. Thomas appears in full dress at Day Out with Thomas events hosted by the North Shore Scenic Railroad in arrangement with HiT Entertainment. The Lake Superior Railroad Museum hosts Day Out with Thomas events periodically.

There are two real engines (One coal fired, one oil fired) and five dummies. The five dummies were built at the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, 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 Rail Road and is lent out to other railroads from time to time. The oil fired engine travels between numerous railroads, including the Henry Ford, Delaware River Railroad and numerous others. In 2014, all of the dummies along with the B.E.D.T. #15 engine were updated with a CGI Series-style face and animatronic features, allowing Thomas to "talk". The railroad began using Percy in their event in 2014: there are two Percy replicas - one standard gauge, and the other narrow gauge; and like the majority of the Thomases, it is a dummy.

Beginning in October 2019, Day Out with Thomas will introduce a life-sized Mavis for a Halloween event called "Thomas, Mavis and the Strasburg Spooktacular". Mavis is improvised by Strasburg's SW8 #8618 switcher, with a face and a few extra details.

## Trivia

* The 2014 Day Out with Thomas Thrill of the Ride Tour in the US marks the first time Christopher Ragland voices Percy after Martin Sherman left the voice cast.
* Some events feature characters that are exclusive to The Railway Series. In other cases, unofficial "new" characters are introduced, using what engines are available to the railway with generic faces.
* Sometimes, a railway company will use incorrect face plates for certain characters if the correct ones are unavailable or do not exist, such as Mavis' face for Spencer, Toad's for the Diesel and Bulgy's for Rocky.
* On the US VHS 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, the entire video took place at a Day Out with Thomas event in Strasburg during April 30th to May 2nd 1999.
* The rare smaller-scale Thomas, which was used for Railfair '91 and Day Out with Thomas events, is on display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. When it is at the museum, it is stored in the Victor McCormick Train Pavilion while the engine is disassembled.
* Two official Vhs tapes were released in Japan as a way to promote two different heritage lines that do Day out With Thomas. . The first one was released July 1st 1996 called P-Chan’s Hello Thomas And James released by Fuji Television Network. The character P-Chan visits the Watercress Line in England. He meets Thomas James The Fat Controller, Diesel and Bulgy during his journey. The second tape to be released was in 2000 called A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie released December 1st 2000 by Gullane Entertainment , This special is about an anime character called Connie traveling to America to see American Thomas at Strasburg Railroad as he gets ready for Day Out With Thomas. She also visits Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania , Choo Choo Barn, Georgetown Loop Railroad in George Town Colorado and Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Durango Colorado.

## Gallery

### Engines

ThomasPercyTracy from The Little Engine That Could (2011)Ace the RacerNoor JehanYong BaoRebeccaNiaAshimaRajiv
### Passenger Cars

Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Coach No. 33Duluth & Iron Range Coach No. 19Duluth, Missabe & Northern Coach No. 68Northern Pacific Coach No. 517Great Northern Coach No. 1115Great Northern Coach No. 1116Northern Pacific Observation No. 390Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Business Car NorthlandDuluth, Missabe & Iron Range Business Car Missabe