Day Out With Thomas Returns to Virginia City

Thomas the Tank Engine is back in Virginia City.  This weekend and next, he'll be taking a special journey with the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.

"We're going down to Gold Hill and back and we go through the magic tunnel," said Tom Gray with the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.  "It's fun, and then we come back, and at the Depot we have the coloring caboose, the PB&J car where you can get a hobo lunch, there's all sorts of fun activities like that."

They event always draws a big crowd.

"The moms thank us for giving them something nice and wholesome to do, the grandparents like coming up and spending time with their grandkids; it's a special day," Gray said.

This year, there's a focus on safety as well.  Operation Lifesaver is staged at the Depot to teach kids about railroad safety.

"Trains are fun and wonderful but they're also dangerous," Gray said.  "So you have to be careful.  You don't want to wear earbuds and walk down the tracks - that happens all the time - you want to stay off the tracks because you never know which way a train is going to come.  The big thing is to stop, look and listen when you're going across tracks or across a road with a railway crossing."

Lessons that are especially important when Thomas is in town.

"The Thomas people teach us that this is not a regular train to these kids, its Thomas," Gray said.  "And we really have to be careful with the kids going out and touching him when he's moving.  It's kind of special; they cry when he sometimes, but he comes right back, so they just have to wait a little while and play some games in the meantime."

More information: https://www.virginiatruckee.com/theme-trains-events/day-out-with-thomas/