Take A Little Trip

Somehow, I missed all the Thomas the Tank Engine stories as I grew up. Though the Reverend W. Awdry's tales of the plucky li'l anthropomorphic locomotive have been around for six decades, I never heard of him. That's probably because I spent most of my boyhood playing around on real rural railroad tracks. Oh, the delightful stories I could tell about smoking Mom's stolen ciggies on the tracks, busting beer bottles on the rails, pissing off trestles, shooting frogs with a .22 and the magical, mystery "screwin' spot" that the older kids had in the woods nearby. Ah, the golden haze of childhood just fills one with delight. Sadly--or not--pilfered smokes and annihilated frogs aren't on the menu of Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour, which pulls into Grapevine Vintage Railroad, 705 S. Main St., Friday through Saturday and April 3 through 5. Instead, good little kiddies and their parents can take a 25-minute ride on a replica of everybody's favorite storybook steam engine, plus enjoy games, live music, bounce-houses and a whole slew of Thomas-related merchandise. Thomas departs every 45 minutes daily between 9 a.m. and 5:20 p.m., and tickets are $18. And kids, if you see some louche-looking boys hanging around beside the tracks, stay away from them, or you could end up just like me. Thomas wouldn't approve. Call 866-468-7630 or visit ticketweb.com/thomas.
Fridays-Sundays. Starts: March 27. Continues through April 5, 2009