Choo-choosing Burnet
Burnet City Manager Mike Steele points to a drainage box along Washington Street near the Burnet Depot that may have to be relocated before Thomas the Tank Engine visits Burnet next year.
BURNET — Thomas the Tank Engine is chuffing into town.
And with luck, as many as 17,000 fans of the Island of Sodor’s most famous “steamie” will be coming to Burnet to see him.
Though the locomotive with the happy expression and cheery whistle won’t pull in to Burnet until next fall, city planners already want to make sure their guest will receive a proper welcome.
“We will have to move that drainage box,” Burnet City Manager Mike Steele said Monday as he surveyed the railroad tracks and lay of the land near the Burnet Depot, where a life-size mockup of Thomas is scheduled to stop for passengers during the “Day Out with Thomas” Central Texas tour Oct. 9-11, 2009.
To accommodate large crowds expected to see and ride the Thomas train, work has already begun to relocate most of the tracks between Jackson and Washington streets at the Burnet Train Depot, just south of the H-E-B on Boundary Street, Steele added.
Basically, Thomas is a train engine propelled by water boiled in large tanks. Except for the round face with a wide smile that appears on its front, the locomotive is very similar to steam engines that rolled through England during the early 20th century.
The legend of Thomas the Tank Engine originated in Great Britain during World War II, when the Rev. Wilbert Awdry created several stories and sketches about the train’s adventures to amuse his son.
By Christmas of 1945, Awdry’s yarns about Thomas and other fictitious trains were published in England as part of “The Railway Series,” and since then, they have become a worldwide book, television and film phenomenon with countless fans, especially children.
The Austin Steam Train Association coordinates the Thomas visits.
“I think kids are generally fascinated with trains, and he (Thomas) is very popular,” said Holly Doggett, the association’s executive director.
The train built to look like Thomas travels to events all over the world, Doggett added.
Normally, Thomas steams into Austin for a four-day visit during the fall, Doggett said.
However, Thomas will not visit Austin this year, because of ongoing construction of a light-rail system in the city, she added.
“We (the train association) were not able to bring him into Austin because of the (light rail) work,” Doggett said.
The association frequently runs trains to the Highland Lakes, so getting Thomas to Burnet should not be a problem, officials said.
On Saturdays, the association’s Hill Country Flyer departs Cedar Park at 10 a.m. for a two-hour ride to Burnet. There is a layover in Burnet for lunch at a restaurant or travelers can bring a picnic and enjoy the city park. Shortly before the train departs, the Burnet County Gunfighters Inc. take the stage in a wild west shoot ‘em up show using historic firearms. The train returns to Cedar Park at 4:30 p.m.
On Sundays, the Bertram Flyer departs Cedar Park at 2 p.m. for a three-hour round-trip excursion to Bertam, a trip that includes a 15-minute stop to explore a historic 1912 depot.
Thomas also is always very popular with young and old alike, officials said.
More than 17,000 adults and children are expected to see Thomas during the visit to Burnet next year, Doggett noted.
“Our regular service runs out of Burnet,” Doggett said. “That is where our events have been held in the past, and our Hill Country Flyer runs out of Burnet.”
For more, check the association’s Web site at www.austinsteamtrain.org.
raymond@thepicayune.com
Photo by Raymond V. Whelan