Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 rolls into The Strasburg Railroad, June 18th-26th

Pulling out of the station for its 16th consecutive ride on the rails, the Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 will visit more than 45 cities in the United States and lucky us, the tour is making a stop along The Strasburg Railroad in nearby Lancaster County(Strasburg Rail Road is located on Route 741 east of Strasburg).

Day Out With Thomas is the only place for families to take a ride with a 15-ton replica of everybody’s favorite No. 1 engine, Thomas the Tank Engine, and enjoy Thomas-themed activities at the Imagination Station, including stamps, meet & greet with meet Sir Topham Hatt™ – the Controller of the Railway, temporary tattoos and hands-on arts and crafts.

Each year the tour grows, traveling to new destinations, adding new activities and welcoming new visitors. If you have a Thomas fan in your house this is a must see event! Limited tickets are available and range in price from $14-$25 per person.

To purchase tickets please click here.

Strasburg Rail Road is one of Lancaster County’s most popular tourist attractions – and recognized as one of America’s most significant examples of early 20th century railroading.

Day Out With Thomas™ at The Strasburg Railroad

Day Out With Thomas™ at The Strasburg Railroad

Join Thomas the Tank Engine™, a full-sized operating steam locomotive, as he greets friends of all ages. Ride a train pulled by Thomas and meet Sir Topham Hatt™. You’ll find lots of other exciting activities, and a complete selection of Thomas merchandise in our gift shop.

Day Out With Thomas Train rides depart every half hour during the times below.

Event activities are:
•September 11 — 9:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
•September 12 — 9:45 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
•September 13 – 17 — 10:15 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.
•September 18 — 9:15 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.
•September 19 — 9:45 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.

The Great Train Robbery – Theft, Scandal and Entertainment at Strasburg Rail Road

The Great Train Robbery

Theft, Scandal and Entertainment at Strasburg Rail Road

The buzz is building as word spreads about The Great Train Robbery rumored to take place at the Strasburg Rail Road. Passengers aboard the 4 p.m. train should be on guard for a gang of robbers targeting the Strasburg area. To protect the passengers, law enforcement will be on hand to keep the peace and see that justice is served. Passengers should be warned that this trip is filled with theft, scandal and plenty of laughs.

Guests aboard this Strasburg Rail Road train will recognize the robbers by their early 20th century dress. The robbers, who are really improvisation actors from Act 1 Productions, will be mingling with guests at Strasburg’s train station, shops and on board the train. The unsuspecting passengers will be given “loot” to carry on the train, only to have it taken from them during the ride.

As the robbers move from car to car, they will interact with the passengers and try to swipe some loot. As the passengers give up their loot, they can also hand over real cash – all for a good cause.All money collected on the train is donated to the Penn State Hershey Four Diamonds Fund to support its mission of conquering childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospitaland their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research.

There are two upcoming opportunities to enjoy this exciting ride.
When: July 25 at 5:00 pm and October 23 at 4:00 pm.

Tickets: Coach prices: $17 adult, $10 kids 3-11, $3 kids under 3.

Where: Strasburg Rail Road, Rt. 741 East, Strasburg, PA
(GPS Address: 301 Gap Road, Ronks, PA 17572)

Tickets: http://www.StrasburgRailRoad.com,

Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Club – Open House (1/16 & 1/17)

Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Club – Annual Model Railroad Open House (since 1975)

The Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Open House is “fun for kids of all ages”. Train lovers young and old will see freight and passenger car trains rumbling over 700 feet of track, over high trestle bridges, through towns, around mountains and through tunnels along the right of way from Reading to Philadelphia. Hundreds of buildings, vehicles, people and trees create realistic scenes on the 1,000+ sq ft model. Numerous buttons allow visitors to bring scenes to life: fly the kite, make the dog bark, and many more!

See Thomas the Tank Engine and try your observation skills on the new Scavenger Hunt.

This is a MUST SEE for train lovers young and old. Make sure you enter to win your very own train set.

Location: 400 S. Main St. Phoenixville, PA 19460
(diagonally across from the Phoenixville Library; 2nd & Main Sts.)

Phone: 610-935-1126
Website: http://www.svmrrc.com
Admission: FREE!!! Donations are gratefully accepted.
Hours: 1:00 – 5:00 pm on Saturday, January 16th & Sunday, January 17th, 2010. (Also 1/23 & 1/24)

The pictures above are of one of the newly renovated areas, Hathaway. They were taken by Brian Cosier.

Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Club – Annual Model Railroad Open House (12/5 & 12/6)

Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Club – Annual Model Railroad Open House (since 1975)

The Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Open House is “fun for kids of all ages”. Train lovers young and old will see freight and passenger car trains rumbling over 700 feet of track, over high trestle bridges, through towns, around mountains and through tunnels along the right of way from Reading to Philadelphia. Hundreds of buildings, vehicles, people and trees create realistic scenes on the 1,000+ sq ft model. Numerous buttons allow visitors to bring scenes to life: fly the kite, make the dog bark, and many more!

See Thomas the Tank Engine and try your observation skills on the new Scavenger Hunt.

This is a MUST SEE for train lovers young and old. Make sure you enter to win your very own train set.

Location: 400 S. Main St. Phoenixville, PA 19460
(diagonally across from the Phoenixville Library; 2nd & Main Sts.)

Phone: 610-935-1126
Website: http://www.svmrrc.com
Admission: FREE!!! Donations are gratefully accepted.
Hours: 1:00 – 5:00 pm on Saturday, December 5th & Sunday, December 6th .

The pictures above are of one of the newly renovated areas, Hathaway. They were taken by Brian Cosier.

2009 Holiday Season – Most Wanted Toys

Shannon and I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to train ride it to New York City for the Time to Play Holiday Showcase. Kind of a crazy morning. We drove to Trenton then hopped a train into NYC. Mid ride, the train comes to a stop… not a people get on or off stop.

It came to a stop…stop!

With no station in sight.

After about 5 minutes the conductor came on and said that the train was having mechanical difficulties and that ” they” were trying to fix it and get us to the nearest station. Shannon and I looked at each other and laughed…stuff like this just seems to happen to US. We had a four hour flight delay coming home from the Type A Mom Conference a few weeks ago. It was the longest 4 hours..EVER and although we were not laughing when we first found out we were stuck at the Charlotte, NC, airport for 4 hours, by hour 3 were were giddy and laughing at everyone and everything around us.

So.. getting back to the crazy train ordeal… the mechanics couldn’t fix the train so another train pulled up next to us and we were told we would have to hop from the broken down train to the new train. The people on the train with us were totally okay with all of this..not phased at all. Us..yeah, not so much as it was about a 2 foot jump from train to train. It was all very McGyver….way too McGyver for 7am!

We did it and I am happy to say I can officially cross hop from train to train off my “Bucket List”. We pulled into the train station with enough time to spare that we got to the Time to Play Magazine Holiday Showcase on time. A little frazzled.. but on time!

We were greeted by the friendly gals of Litsky PR and made our way around the room, chatting with toy executives and playing with all of the hottest new toys. Chris Byrne, the Toy Guy at Time to Play Magazine unveiled some of his predictions for the most popular and best selling products of Holiday 2009. We have listed his picks below. Click on the photo for a detailed description of each of the 16 products named to the list accompanied by the Time to Play Magazine editors’ views on why the item will be among the Most Wanted.