So I was just randomly looking at Valley Railroad's site, and I noticed that all of 2024's Princess Academy and Royal Tea departures are sold out. None of the other trains are sold out, including Day Out with Thomas.

What is this Princess Academy and why is it so popular?

Perhaps related to this:

"Princess Academy is a fantasy novel exploring themes of families, relationships, and education by Shannon Hale published on June 16, 2005, by Bloomsbury. It tells the story of fourteen-year-old Miri who attends a princess academy that will determine who wins the hand of the prince. The book was named a 2006 Newbery Honor winner[1] as well as a New York Times Bestseller. It is the first in the Princess Academy series, followed by Princess Academy: Palace of Stone and Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Academy

Maybe not officially related to the Princess Academy books but a "event inspired by" type of thing. I have joked before about similar stuff with the Heber Valley Railroad's "Taylor Train" featuring a Taylor Swift impersonator, but considering the height of Swift-mania right now that might be a perfectly timed event train as well. I'd consider Days Out With Thomas to be a dying brand at this point, the TV show franchise has been mismanaged for a while now; and while it still has its fans it doesn't seem to be generating the die-hard interest in steam trains the original Railway Series books and the early seasons of the TV show did; and it seems to be resulting in diminishing returns for railroads banking on it (perhaps excluding the Talyllyn's "Awdry Extravaganza" which seems to instead be aimed at the now adult fans of the original books and TV seasons who want to relish in the history of the railway Rev. Awdry volunteered at himself). The list of non-Thomas train related stuff is slim pickings too... I can't see Chuggington or Dinosaur Train getting the same hype as the blue-dumpster himself, and even then Thomas's celebrity status is waning these days.

I have seen other event trains like the princess aim for non-train related properties, seems like stuff tying into Bluey is gaining traction as an event theme for the "family with preschoolers" crowd in the UK at least. I have seen other railroads try and time event trains to local comic conventions and try and get the Star Wars/Trek, anime and superheroes crowds to visit their railroad in the process. I think the steampunk aesthetic can be silly, but the NSRM in Carson City did successfully recruit steampunk cosplayers to aid in the Great Western Steam Up a few years back. Hell, I have seen (gasp clutch your pearls) photos from fursuit meetups at a railroad museums a couple times. There certainly are a lot of interesting groups outside of the traditional railfan sphere who would want to visit a railroad if an event caters to them.

My guess is successful events that manage to bring in both those traditionally not associated with visiting heritage railroads along with broadening the community appeal; help endear good will in the community and hopefully cash in the coffers for what would be more "serious" railroad preservation. Seems like ample opportunity to dig through the public domain as well, I am sure Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mark Twain wouldn't demand any licensing fees if their famous works of fiction were used perhaps as inspiration for event trains aimed at an adult crowd (I could totally see people buying into a Jane Austen event train actually [not to mention the Bridgerton crowd], you might capture some Horatio Hornblower and Aubrey-Maturin fans as well if it includes broader stuff on the Regency Era and the Napoleonic Wars as well no matter how anachronistic most of preserved rolling stock is to that).

I guess TL:DR, not surprised to see events that cast broadly to appeal to non-train fans being the stuff that gets them to book out their heritage railroad for it.

A little more exploring finds this, as well as the description of the event:

https://essexsteamtrain.com/experiences ... royal-tea/

Short and sweet, the generic "princess" trains, the "superhero" trains, and the like seem to do REALLY well these days.

If a heritage railway/museum is not doing themed events on a regular basis throughout the year, it is missing out on dramatic revenue, community building, and outreach opportunities.

Events do not have to be elaborate, hokey, out-of-mission, or even extra fare. At the WW&F, we've found events that mirror our mission and stayed away from those that do not.

Bonus points for events that involve one or more community partners. The best scenarios are events that the heritage railroad only has to bring passengers to - look for partners along or nearby the route that might be willing to co-sponsor event - farms, restaurants, theaters, etc.

A few years back, the WW&F launched a "Lavender Train" to bring passengers to a local lavender farm for a "pick your own" experience. We were skeptical something like that would work - it is now one of our most popular events (second only to Pumpkin Picking at the same farm) and has given both the farm and the railway much local media attention.

In short, the three ways to grow a heritage railway are:
- Events
- Events
- Events

Princess trains have been very successful for a number of tourist railroads. Essex is as savvy an operation as any, and they will capitalize on any event that shows promise. That being said, princess, superheroes, and the like are niche products - Essex has four departures scheduled for the Princess Academy vs forty Thomas trains.

- Alan Maples

When I worked at Texas State RR 25 years ago, most of our regular trains were half empty most of the time, but we ran extras on demand for school field trips, dinner trains, and murder mystery trains, and these were always full. The schools, local restaurants, or the local theater handled the planning, onboard activities, and marketing. All we had to do was clean and water the cars, get a good air test, spot the train at the platform on time, and handle 'em gently.

Princess events have been greatly successful at many locations. For example, a few years ago I bought tickets for a Princess Tea at the Palmer House in Chicago for my great nieces...I became a favorite uncle! The local ballet was hired to provide a couple of princesses and it was cross-promoted with an event the ballet company was holding.

There are a lot of little events that different locations have that with some modifications could be done on trains. Take a look around and see what ideas can be stolen, or borrowed....
Bart

Gettysburg railroad used to have apple picking trains, which stopped at an orchard.
Those were always full.