Fillmore, CA – It’s a bird! It’s a plane….wait…it’s a train? Thomas the Tank Engine™ is set to roll into Fillmore for the Day Out With Thomas™ 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour. All Thomas fans are invited to spend the day with their favorite engine that always saves the day! The event, which takes place April 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 2009, will be hosted by Fillmore & Western Railway Co. and presented by HIT Entertainment and sponsored by The LEGO Group.

For more than six decades, children have been captivated by the courageous adventures of Thomas and his engine friends. Pulling out of the station for its 14th consecutive ride on the rails, the Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour will visit more than 40 cities in the United States and Canada. Day Out With Thomas is the only place for families to take a ride with a 15-ton replica of everybody’s favorite #1 engine, Thomas the Tank Engine, and enjoy Thomas-themed activities at the Imagination Station, including stamps, temporary tattoos and hands-on arts and crafts. Each year the tour grows, traveling to new destinations, adding new activities and welcoming new visitors. In addition, exclusive Thomas & Friends merchandise is available at Day Out With Thomas events including a 2009 Day Out With Thomas passenger car and commemorative t-shirts, pennants, engineer caps, frames, and more.

Thomas the Tank Engine, star of Thomas & Friends™, on PBS KIDS® and PBS KIDS SproutSM will be kicking off his Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour in March and is expected to welcome more than one million passengers through December. During the Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour, children will ride with Thomas up steep hills, around deep, blue lakes, and help him rescue his engine friends—if only in their imaginations. Day Out with Thomas 2009 activities include:

• A 25-minute (approximate) ride with Thomas the Tank Engine
• The opportunity to meet Sir Topham Hatt™, Controller of the Railway
• A Thomas & Friends Imagination Station; featuring stamps, temporary tattoos, hands-on arts and crafts activities and coloring sheets.
• Storytelling, video viewing and live music
• During the Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour, children will also be provided with a “Tour Map,” that guides them through the four station stops – the Imagination Station, the Meet & Greet with Sir Topham Hatt, the Storytelling/Video Viewing area and the gift shop. After receiving four stamps on their map, each child will receive a 3-D Thomas poster with glasses (while supplies last).

The tour provides a unique, interactive family experience at every station, offering a variety of entertaining activities that reflect the local flavor of each stop. At Fillmore & Western Railway activities will include: Model Railroads displays, Jolly Jumps, Hay Maze, Bouncy Houses and more.

The approximately 25-minute train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine will depart every 45 minutes, rain or shine, with departure times at 9:00 am through 3:30 pm daily. Tickets for the Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Heroes of the Rail Tour are $18 plus tax for ages two and up.

Tickets are on sale now by calling toll-free 866.468.7630 or logging onto www.ticketweb.com/thomas For more information and directions contact the Fillmore & Western Railway Co. at 805-524-2546 or www.fwry.com.

For general information or to find a Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour event near you, visit www.thomasandfriends.com.

For media use only: For high-resolution downloadable artwork or additional information please go to www.hitnewsonline.com and select Day Out With Thomas 2009: The Hero of the Rails Tour Artwork.

About THE Fillmore & Western Railway Co.
Fillmore & Western Railway Co. is in its’ 13th year of operation and is located in Fillmore, CA, on Highway 126 between, I-5 in Santa Clarita and US101 in Ventura, California. Fillmore & Western features year-round train rides, including weekend scenic excursions, southern California’s only Murder Mystery Dinner Train, PumpkinLiners, Christmas Tree Trains, North Pole Express, The Wizard Express and many more themed daytime and evening train rides. Fillmore & Western is also known as “The Movie Trains” because more than 400 movies, television shows and commercials have been filmed on and around the train.

About Thomas & Friends
Thomas & Friends invites children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story. Thomas the Tank Engine was created by a father for his son more than 60 years ago. Today, families in more than 145 countries enjoy fun and adventure with their engine friends while experiencing timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation. Thomas & Friends is making tracks to great destinations on PBS KIDS®, PBS KIDS SproutSM and with downloadable episodes available through iTunes. For more information about the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, please visit www.thomasandfriends.com.

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners, is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America and Japan, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as a worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands and as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM, and international preschool channel JimJam, (outside of the US, UK and China). For more information, visit
www.hitentertainment.com.