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Thomas will return June 1,2,3 and June 8,9,10, 2007 with a new much longer Thomas Train ride on a route taking you outside the Park boundaries - watch this space for details.
More then 12,200 happy guests. A total of 160 volunteers putting in 935 volunteer shifts and 5,142 volunteer hours. These are just a few of the key statistics from our successful Day Out With Thomas 2005—The Celebration Tour event, held June 10, 11, 12 and June 17, 18 & 19 at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. As we go to press this issue, a volunteer thank you event is planned for Saturday, July 9th.
JUNE 9 2005—OUR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR GETS THINGS STARTED
What a delightful afternoon, and a very special way to start off the Day Out With Thomas event as Her Honour Iona Campagnolo, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and WCRA’s Honourary Patron, joined us in welcoming more than 150 special kids and parents to the West Coast Railway Heritage Park for a hosted special afternoon with Thomas. The event was hosted by the WCRA and an all volunteer group and crew supported the event.
Her Honour arrived with driver and her Aide de Camp, Inspector Val Harrison, and had time for a quick tour of some of the Heritage Park exhibits led by Executive Director Don Evans. As the tour was viewing the Carshop (set up for Imagination Station) the crowd was assembling (from Squamish) and the two buses from with participants from Vancouver arrived. The official party made its way through the business car British Columbia and onto the open platform where Her Honour greeted the crowd.
The words said, it was time to enjoy the activities planned, and the group was piped over to the station area to await the arrival of the star. A quick radio call, and necks craned over the fence protecting the mainline track as Thomas the Tank Engine appeared around the curve and chugged into the station to the applause of the kids. It was a classic moment and brought tears to many eyes as the kids saw Thomas for the first time! Once the train was in place and secured, it was time for a group photo (see cover).
Photos complete, the group climbed aboard for their ride with Thomas. The ride was magic—as young eyes took it all in, and Tickles the Clown and companions made the little eyes light up! The 25 minute ride seemed to be done in no time, and a group of happy youngsters and escorts were climbing down onto the station platform. The group split into two at this point—half going for a mini rail ride and half into the station for storytelling.
Her Honour did a great job reading the group a Thomas the Tank Engine story, standing at the front and turning the pages of the large book as she read to the attentive group. (photo above, Colin Dathan). Following this the Lieutenant Governor had to leave for her return trip to Victoria, and received a great send off from all around. The day for the kids ended with a meal in the large food tent courtesy McDonald’s Squamish.
One of the participants, Christine Kam wrote afterwards:
"I just want to give a big THANK YOU to the generous people at the West Coast Railway Association for allowing myself and my two kids (Lauren and Marcus) the opportunity to see Thomas the Train on June 9, 2005. My daughter is really into trains and this was a wonderful opportunity for her to see one close up, she also liked the miniature train ride! The event was fun and well organized. Keep up the good work!"
Our sincere thanks to the Lieutenant Governor for attending, to all who volunteered for the event, to our Squamish staff, and to McDonald’s Squamish for making this a great day.
DAY OUT WITH THOMAS 2005—THE CELEBRATION TOUR
Our Day Out With Thomas 2005 event was a great success this year. A number of learnings from our first event last year were put into place, with the result that the event ran smoothly and we had many compliments from guests who attended. Over 12,200 attended the event over the six days, June 10, 11, 12 and June 17, 18 and 19. While the numbers of attendees were down from last year a bit, the sales were up and the event generated a nice return to the Heritage Park—funds being used to cover much of the upgrades to the carshop. Event chair Craig McDowall and his huge team of volunteers and staff should be very pleased with the event they put on. (Below, Thomas The Tank Engine is ready to meet his fans)
Like last year, Day Out With Thomas drew people from all over Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, with many coming from as far away as Alberta and Oregon just to take in the event. The weather this year was cooler—and in some cases wetter—but that didn’t deter the spirit of those here. Thomas was the star and everyone enjoyed themselves whether it was in the Imagination Station (Carshop), the food court area, bouncing on Huffer The Train, or aboard the train with Thomas himself.
The West Coast Mini Rail was also a favourite for the crowds and operated with many guest engines for the six days of the Thomas event. As many as five trains at a time operated the mini rail line, and the new crossing signals at the Heritage Park entrance were a great help controlling the access to the site and providing safe operations. Trevor Heath sends this photo of some of the mini rail locomotive line up ready to go at the start of one day of the event.
Once again the Squamish Chief provided a special supplement and good local coverage, along with Mountain FM. Also covering the event were CTV and Jack FM, and there was extensive advertising in the Province and Vancouver Sun, as well as local papers throughout the Lower Mainland. For WCRA, we once again were visited by many who formerly didn’t know we existed. For merchants in Squamish, the economic impact was evident as they were busy with customers who, in many cases, hadn’t been to Squamish before.
But, at the end of the day, it was happy guests that mattered—here are just a sampling of some of the letters and e mails we received:
"My son Nic (4 years old) and I just got back from attending Day Out With Thomas on June 11th. We drove from Edmonton to see this attraction as Nic is a huge fan…..I felt compelled to write you and express my sincere appreciation to the members and volunteers who made this event such a memorable one for not only Niuc, but myself as well. We spent nearly 7.5 hours at your Park…...It’s great to see an organization such as yours take the time to inspire children to dream and explore their imaginations, and at the same time spark interest in your pastime of railway preservation." (Nic and Ken Jeffris)
"Please extend our thanks and congratulations for Thomas’ successful visit to Squamish. Our 4 year old grandson "lives and breathes" Thomas, the trip was his birthday present…...We felt this event was so well organized, from greetings, things to do, conveniences provided, the considerate people who covered the strollers with plastic when it started to rain. We all felt so welcome, and would particularly like to acknowledge the postal people who endeavored to show the children how mail was moved in times gone by. We hope our grandson’s interest in trains continues and will be sure to bring him to your site when he visits us again." (Monty & Sharon Nivens and family.)
"I wanted to let you know that our experience today was the single best time my son and I have had at a children’s gathering. All of the volunteers and the mini train engineers were so friendly and kind. I cannot say enough kind words about how happy we have been to spend the day in Squamish at your railway park. The grounds are beautiful and clean, the overall experience was amazing." (Stephanie and Elias)
On July 9, 2005 a special thank you (photo above, Don Evans) was held in the Carshop for the volunteers that worked so hard on this year’s successful Day Out With Thomas event. Event chair Craig McDowall and Heritage Park GM Sherry Elchuk thanked all who helped, many of whom can be seen enjoying the lunch provided.
Your editor would like to end this item with a personal thanks to Craig McDowall, Jim Brown, Sherry Elchuk and Mattias Christianson who acted as event managers, as well as to everyone who volunteered at this year’s event. We should all be very proud of what was accomplished. Thank you to you all.
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