The NSW Rail Museum in Thirlmere is a frequent family-day outing for us. I have three children, obsessed with all things locomotive and the train museum is a fitting family-friendly host. Did I mention that it also hosts several events throughout the year called “Day Out With Thomas”? Two-year-old mind blown, right? The next one is coming this spring in September. It's just around the corner. 

It is exactly what you think. The team dresses up the usual steam train with a giant Thomas-style face and rebrands the station as the Island of Sodor.

We started the day with the 30-minute steam train ride, hauled by a train called ‘Donald’. The kids were bursting with excitement as we were greeted by the Fat Controller (or Stephen Hatt for the 2022 version) and entered our cabin. My parents joined us and filled the kids' ears with stories about how they used to catch trains like this to school. The train went from Thirlmere to Buxton and back – the optimal time before the kids cracked it and got bored.

From here we entered the museum grounds, where the kids took a ride on the mini-train, bounced on all three jumping castles, met Thomas and took a peek inside the driver's cab. We also popped in and out of all the display heritage trains – hours of fun.

You could grab food inside the museum and from a range of vendors on the grounds – including coffee, for those parents needing an extra boost, and ice-creams. We finished our trip with a visit to The Welcome Inn Hotel for a delicious lunch where we enjoyed a well-deserved wine while the kids played with their gift store toys – one of which was a very loud Thomas phone that still talks even when you’re not playing with it… fun.

For more information on NSW Rail Museum’s Day Out With Thomas, visit the museum's website.

Next event dates include 2, 3, 4, 10 & 11 September 2022