Any numbers yet for attendance? Generally, which type of activities seemed to attract the most visitor attention apart from the steam train?

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

We ran a short day on Friday--had 5500 visitors.
Saturday, just about 9500. Sunday was heavier, but I don't have the numbers yet. The majority of our Thomas visitors are not railfans--this is an "Amusement Park" type of experience for them.
The fact that steam ran [and how special that is]was lost on many people. Some people had no idea we existed until they came for the Thomas event. One visitor complained that "if the streetcars aren't big enough, build bigger ones....." Others wanted to know why they weren't all the same...some board in front, others at the rear. I was working the gate as a greeter, checking for tickets and overheard two people leaving later in the day...they were trying to figure out what the "I" in IRM stands for! [they finally settled on "international"--I did not correct them].

Other visitors were delighted to discover us and I know they will return! Some are regular Thomas visitors and commented on how much better this year's event was--we've redone the layout and foot traffic moves at a much better pace. There is paving from the edge of the parking lot in every direction that the visitor needs to go, and strollers and wagons are much easier to push [and pull] than in years past.

There were a lot of happy faces each day...the kids are delighted when they spot Thomas and the Thomas train....and it makes all of us feel good to see them happy. I know we'll get some new members from the various visitors who asked questions.....

We ran streetcars [the green hornet, 144, 3142], L cars, North Shore interurbans, the C&NW [pre-METRA] bilevels, the steam train....certainly gave our visitors a wide variety. They also had entertainment: clowns, temporary tattoos, live music, coloring, story telling, etc. Plenty going on!

beast@mc.net

I would say that, for Thomas weekend, the interest in the steam train still overshadowed everything else running. I was working as a trainman Sunday, and people were willing to sit at the station for 45 minutes to catch the steam train even if there would be three other trains in the meantime. I heard reports that the crowds seemed very happy - that we got quite a few "better than last year" remarks. I would attribute this to a change in the location of the loading area and entrance gate, which spread out the crowds more. It seemed to me that the biggest attraction besides the Thomas train itself was actually the merchandise tent!

Frank Hicks

fullparallel@wideopenwest.com

> I would say that, for Thomas weekend, the
> interest in the steam train still
> overshadowed everything else running. I was
> working as a trainman Sunday, and people
> were willing to sit at the station for 45
> minutes to catch the steam train even if
> there would be three other trains in the
> meantime. I heard reports that the crowds
> seemed very happy - that we got quite a few
> "better than last year" remarks. I
> would attribute this to a change in the
> location of the loading area and entrance
> gate, which spread out the crowds more. It
> seemed to me that the biggest attraction
> besides the Thomas train itself was actually
> the merchandise tent!

> Frank Hicks

Frank: I think there is a bit of confusion here. Dave seemed to be asking about IRM's VINTAGE TRANSPORT EXTRAVAGANZA on August 4th (the subject of your BRIEF) and Barb seemed to be responding with information of the DAY OUT WITH THOMAS weekend of 8/16, 8/17 and 8/18. Perhaps we could get a clarification with numbers from both events?
Thanks!

midlandblb@cs.com

I am thankful for the information from both events if at all possible. It is useful to have an idea about what sort of support a Thomas weekend might bring compared to antique cars, compared to trolleys, or to antique gas engines, etc.

Kudos to IRM for doing well on many different kinds of events.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

For Vintage Transport, we had 579 vintage vehicles on display: automobiles, trucks, firetrucks, motorcycles.....plus, of course, our collection of roughly 400 pieces. Steam operated, BUT our crowd declined from the previous year [when steam did not run at all during the season]. We drew approximately 1500 paying guests. Thomas brings out the visitors, but they are a different type of visitor for the most part.

beast@mc.net