MarloElaine

Every morning for the past two weeks, Sammy asked me, “Are we going to see the HUGE Thomas today?” He was so excited when I finally answered yes last Saturday. For the second year in a row, we took the kids to Day Out With Thomas at the Illinois Railway Museum.

We followed our own tips from last year’s Day out with Thomas article. We pre-ordered our tickets online, packed our picnic lunch, and put on our rain gear, and caravaned to Union, IL.

The parking lot opened at 7:30 am, the museum gate opened at 9:00 am. Next year, we plan to come before 10:00 am to get parking close to the entrance. By 11:00 am on a rainy Saturday, the main parking lot was full. People were directed to park in several outlying lots, then the overflow cars were forced to park along the side streets. I did see a shuttle bus, but I have no idea how often it ran.

Like last year, tickets sold out quickly for all of the morning Thomas train rides. Since we ordered our tickets several months in advance, we didn’t have to wait long before our 12:30 pm ride. Sammy made sure we were the first in line for Thomas so we could choose the best seats. We sat in the last car on the boarding side so that we could watch Thomas pulling us around the bend. Great photo op!

A few great ways to stay out of the rain or the sun are to visit the train barns or ride the Streetcars or Diesel train. The Diesel train ride was approximately 40 minutes long, including several operations stops to allow other trains to pass by. Many children (and adults) took this opportunity to nap. There were also volunteer conductors on each car to give trivia, history, or stories about trains or the museum. Sammy even had the conductor punch his train ticket.

This year we brought our Radio Flyer wagon to haul our cooler and the kids when they got tired of walking. With the rainy weather, we could have used the umbrella accessory or the canopy. We were lucky to find a sheltered picnic table to have our lunch and wait out the worst of the rain.

Thomas will be in Union, IL for one more weekend before he travels to another part of the country. Sammy is already talking about visiting Thomas again next year. Sophie should be talking up a storm by then. Right now, her favorite words seem to be “choo-choo!”

We’d like to express our thanks to all the volunteers helping out at the Illinois Railway Museum! We’ll see you again next year!