Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends - Time to say "Goodbye"?

Oh my! Seems when assessing the viability of Facebook new builds, the bar has been set at a new low...

Tom

 

Actually, it would be just what the Bluebell needs, minus the garish blue and "funny" face of course.

Paul H

 

That's the most accurate Thomas replica I've seen - not. Have them fed him steroids in Japan?

 

Too late now by the evidence posted on this thread but, 20 years ago, had I the money to do so, I would have bet on a Thomas/LBSCR E2 seeing the light of day and not a hope in Hell of an A1 Pacific doing so. A good job I'm not a gambler then!

I know only 10 E2s were built but they would probably have done quite well on some heritage lines and the choice of livery - oh so important - would be varied even without the blue paint and smiley face. Perhaps when the LBSCR Atlantic is up and running.........

I don't do Facebook so can't access the site to see how good/bad/offending it is.

 

Apart from rebuilding a US loco into a Thomas replica, they have also constructed an unpowered "Percy" from scratch!
http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/percy-fact-sheet/
Enables the trains to be top and tailed at their events..............

 

Well based on the IEP procurement process, which seems to be a bit like the famous tree swing analogy, maybe that's what the DfT would order?

 

It would seem that it is time to say goodbye, at least on the GWSR for now. Nothing is certain of course but, if the effort outweighs the returns......
https://crcsmagazine.com/2018/09/16/the-gwsr-day-out-with-thomas-swansong/

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the big Thomas re-brand coming this year. The data so far appears positive from HiT/Mattel seems positive for the shows longevity, as does the interest stat around audience gender, so it'll be interesting to see how that then subsequently impacts DOWT events

 

Personally I thought the TV series went downhill after season 2,but it's just my opinion. Lol

 

Considering they're filming season 22, and 23 has been confirmed, it still seems pretty popular

 

I'm not sure that the rebrand/relaunch would change things very much.
The main problem as I understand it, is that HiT/Mattel are charging a lot of money and putting a lot of conditions on the railways organising these events. When you add on the profit margin for the railway itself, I think more and more railways were realising that the paying public simply can't afford to pay the ticket prices required. From the point of view of heritage railways and TTTE it seems that HiT/Mattel may have killed the golden goose...

Keith

 

Hence things like Peppa Pig, Paddington etc. Why have the hassle?

 

I don't know if things have changed since, but I believe that the conditions used to (and possibly still does) give HiT a percentage of the gross revenue of the event, rather than net profit. Since the operating costs of most railway activities are fixed whereas the income is variable depending how many people show up, essentially that meant the rewards were shared between the host railway and HiT, but the risk was almost entirely on the host railway.

Tom

 

Over here in SoCal, ORANGE EMPIRE RAILWAY MUSEUM does Thomas every November for 10 days, last year the had 36,000 tickets sold.
I took 2 of my Grandsons ( 3 & 5) they enjoyed it.
The event tickets are for a time/day specific train, $17 week days, $21 weekends, the ride is around 3 miles round trip. Due to the platforms being at track level the is no platform performance which is good as Thomas and Gordon are made of fiberglass, steel wheels with no brake blocks. The faces are animated hence the sound of an electric generator that also powered the smoke generator. There was a Thomas stage show which the kids liked.

https://www.oerm.org/events/

The museum is worth the visit, a lot of dual track gauge for their street cars.

Cheers
Dave

 

A very old and traditional arrangement when leasing one railway to another to operate, of course! And it has bitten many an operating company in the past too.

 

My understanding was that HiT were not just after a percentage of the gross ticket revenue for the event, but were also asking for a percentage of the take from shops/bars/buffets etc. No wonder so many heritage railways have kicked these operations into touch.

Andy

 

I understood that many railways found numbers of visitors to TTE events dropping off when the Ringo Starr narrated programmes were not being shown on TV.

Apparently a lot of volunteers didn't want to get involved in them after all the child protection issues either

 

I think the latest changes to the new politically correct Thomas will finally kill it off. Wilbur Awdry must be spinning in his grave

 

....to say nothing of the yellow Bulleid WC! OK...I'll admit it, I've been recording and watching. Quite amusing in parts, but I doubt many small children will understand the life lessons they are trying to impart!

 

Indian 'railfans' [their description] are adapting the Thomas model for their own locos. Here is a, politically corrected, female Ooty line X Class. Sadly many of their preserved locos are in a not much less gaudy paint job. Actually Sarah Jeremiah who created this image along with some diesel examples, is a serious enthusiast and modeller.