Passenger POV of Strasburg Rail Road's Day Out with Thomas

On August 24, 2020 Strasburg Rail Road hosted the first "Ride with Thomas" event. This event would see Thomas take a consist with paying passengers to Leaman Place Junction and back for the first time since Strasburg converted BEDT 15 to a fully functioning, coal-fired, steam-powered Thomas The Tank Engine Replica.


While Day out with Thomas events usually consisted of approximately 20 minute rides from East Strasburg Station to just East of Esbenshade Road and back, that schedule would be too tight to accomodate COVID-19 disinfecting protocols. Therefore, much more time would be spent at the station than typical. This allowed the crew to fill Thomas's water tanks before each departure. The limited water capacity of the Thomas conversion was always the biggest obstacle in making the full 45-minute round trip to Paradise. With the extra time in the station, and the necessity to adapt to the COVID-19 limitations, the Strasburg Railroad made the decision conduct a test run with a 7-car consist earlier in the month. This run would prove successful and led to Thomas being assigned a 6-car consist for the Ride with Thomas events.


This video gives the viewer a passenger's point of view on the first revenue Westbound trip from Paradise to Strasburg while seated in the foremost seat of Coach #70. The former BEDT 15 is a small engine and had to work hard to get up the grades West of Leaman Place and Cherry Hill. Be sure to turn your speakers up to appreciate the impressive stack talk from this little blue engine.


The video was recorded during the 10:15 train on a Google Pixel 3 that was held against the window sill by hand the whole trip. There were also small children on the train. This is by no means a professional video with prestigious quality, but rather my best attempt to capture the closest view of the first run up the hill a passenger could have had.


Be sure to visit www.StrasburgRailRoad.com to plan your trip.