Strasburg Rail Road

The Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest continuously operating railroad in the western hemisphere and the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Day Out with Thomas
Day Out with Thomas usually runs three times a year: July, September and November. Despite having built all the Thomas dummies, Strasburg uses a steam-powered Thomas that was rebuilt from the Brooklyn East Direct Terminal #15, which happens to be the same locomotive as Porter's basis. From 2014 onwards, Thomas gained a CGI face with controllable eyes and an animatronic mouth. Thomas also contains an audio system which plays Martin Sherman's Thomas voice. In September 2014, it was announced that Strasburg would introduce Percy to their railroad; however, they do not use a steam-powered Percy. Percy is a dummy model usually pushed or pulled by a locomotive.

In April 2019, it was announced that Mavis would run alongside Thomas for the "Thomas, Mavis and the Strasburg Spooktacular" event between the 25th and 27th of October. Mavis is Strasburg's SW8 switcher 2008, improvised with a face, “Ffarquhar Quarry Co” lettering, and nameplate.

The following year, in 2020, Rusty was added to events exclusive to Strasburg, first appearing at a Ride With Thomas event in August. Rusty is Strasburg's small Plymouth switcher #2, Dinky, improvised with a face, nameplate, and new number. According to the railroad, the switcher’s orange livery was an intentional nod to Rusty even before being dressed up as him.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular Day Out With Thomas events in 2020 were cancelled. Instead, Thomas, Percy, and Mavis were brought out for a smaller-scale “ride with Thomas” event. During this event, Thomas and either Percy or Mavis (depending on the day) were run as part of the Railroad’s normal roster, running the entire length of the line to Paradise, PA instead of the shorter section typically used for Thomas events. Rusty was on static display for photos, while the other three engines were rotated in and out.

In 2022, Thomas' voice lines were all re-recorded by his US All Engines Go voice actor Meesha Contreras. However, the engine itself was not modified.

Trivia

 * On the US VHS/DVD 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, the Day Out with Thomas events took place at Strasburg.
 * In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, the scene with the "Rainbow Sun" (#475) was filmed at Strasburg. 475 and three of the railroad’s passenger cars (only two of which appeared in the film) were given Indian Valley Railroad lettering. After the film wrapped production, the passenger cars retained the lettering for several more months.
 * Alongside their regular Day Out with Thomas events, the Strasburg Railroad has also built six Thomas dummies, which tour around the US and Canada.
 * The colour scheme of the small Plymouth switcher #2 (Dinky) was specifically inspired by Rusty's livery in the television series.
 * In the United States, Day Out With Thomas was never presented by The Britt Allcroft Company, but instead by Amtrak. Genesis P42 and F40PH, which is mostly known in Caltrain, who appeared to support mostly because Amtrak presents this event.
 * The nearby Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania occasionally uses Strasburg Railroad tracks to connect to the Amtrak Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg Main Line junction in Paradise, Pennsylvania.
 * On 2nd November 2022, 475 collided with an excavator while running around to the other end of its train, damaging the headlight and smokebox door. The incident was captured on video by both a live webcam and a passenger onboard.
 * As of 2023, the Strasburg Rail Road opens a six-track freight yard located at Southern Lancaster County as part of the mainline.