Children and their families from all over the country will be descending upon the Village of Medina for the long-awaited coming of Thomas the Tank Engine.

As the first two weekends of May unfold, thousands will discover the Thomas mystique. Leaders of the Medina Railroad Museum say both they and the village have been blessed with the popular figure, which began more than 60 years ago as a character in children’s books.

“We are very fortunate to have Thomas visit, as he only makes about 50 stops per year in the U.S.,” said Linda Klein, promotions director at the museum.

Here is an edited transcript of several questions The Journal-Register asked Klein about the influence that Thomas has on both the museum and the community at large.

QUESTION: When was the Medina Railroad Museum established and how far has it come since the beginning?

ANSWER: We've come a long way, baby. Museum Director and Founder Marty Phelps purchased the freighthouse in 1991 and began a long restoration of the building. The museum opened in April 1997, so we are celebrating our 10th anniversary. After some early struggles, the museum has had great success in the past five years with the addition of our excursion trains, our magnificent 204’ train layout, and of course, Day Out With Thomas. Most of our visitors cite “word-of-mouth” on a visitor guest book as the reason they visited. Somebody told them, ‘You've got to see this place,’ which is a huge compliment to our dedicated staff. With the museum’s success, we have been able to become an important part of the tourism efforts in the region by bringing thousands of visitors to the area and promoting other local attractions and businesses in the community. Museum staff attend travel shows in the entire region and bring brochures promoting Medina and Orleans County. For example we are now promoting the visit of the Lois McClure Schooner in July, and all summer activities — we think that is the best way we can give back to the community that has supported our efforts.

• • •

Q: How was Thomas the Tank Engine first brought to the museum in 2005?

A: Kelly Kiebala, now the director of Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, brought it to our attention after she attended two “Day Out With Thomas” events in Connecticut and Utica with her young children. She made the initial contact with the HIT Entertainment people for information. The museum submitted an application and the corporate heads came to Medina for a site and staff review and the rest is history.

• • •

Q: Has Thomas’ presence increased your notoriety, crowds in general throughout the year?

A: Absolutely. The museum was doing great increasing our visitorship each year with our train rides and train layout, but Thomas definitely put us on the map in a big way. Now we get visitors throughout the year that first came to Thomas 2005. They love the museum and our Santa train rides, Medina and Orleans County. We have a huge mailing list now and are getting great responses.

• • •

Q: What’s special about a “Day out with Thomas” that draws so many people from near and far?

A: It's simple. The kids love Thomas and it is a wonderful family-oriented day out. Parents love to see their children so happy, and a “Day Out With Thomas” always engineers miles of smiles. Seeing that giant blue engine on our railroad tracks makes all of us adults smile too.

• • •

Q: How important is the event for the museum and the Village of Medina as a whole?

A: A “Day Out With Thomas” is a great boon to the museum, Medina and Orleans County. It has a $1.5 million economic impact on the area. Local businesses sell out to the crowds — especially the restaurants, gas stations, film developers, etc. Orleans Ford even sold three trucks to Thomas visitors the first year. The state sales tax just for the gift tent is 15,000 to $20,000, of which the county gets half and the village a percentage. The museum has been able to replace our deck and make many other needed repairs with the proceeds. The LOYAL sports club, a food vendor, has been able to purchase new uniforms and equipment for their teams, and many of the local churches, the Red Cross, the fire department and the Lion's Club receive donations for providing volunteers for the event. The Senior Citizen Center benefits from rental of their facilities and sales of coffee and doughnuts. OTS does a good portion of their annual income providing shuttle service for these two weekends. Renting of dumpsters from the Village, port-a-johns, and purchasing tons of supplies from local businesses all helps with the local economy. The list goes on. Most of all, our beautiful village gains a lot of notoriety that pays off in future visits by these Thomas tourists. And we all have a lot of fun to boot.

• • •

Q: How far do people travel to attend?

A: We are fortunate to have Thomas here on Mother’s Day Weekend. Many people from around the country tie in a visit to mom with a visit to Thomas. We have visitors from nearly every state represented each year, and of course, many visitors from Canada. The most memorable visit for us was a terminally-ill child from Nova Scotia who was sponsored by a Make A Wish-type foundation and wanted to see Thomas and Niagara Falls. Also, a mom from Fairport gave birth hours after being at Thomas on Mother's Day — she will be back this year with her 1-year-old son ... on Mother's Day! Of course, for the local children, this is a dream come true to have Thomas in their own back yard. Every pair of wide eyes and a wide smile makes us happy and makes all the work worth while.

• • •

Q: How many people who come to see Thomas also know about the Medina Railroad Museum?

A: In 2005, probably only 20 percent of the Thomas visitors had been to the Museum or even heard of Medina. Now each year we have a lot of repeat visitors to Thomas, the museum and to Medina, as well as new visitors each year. It is very important to Thomas to make friends in all of these communities, to inspire junior engineers, and to promote and support heritage railroading so that all of the wonderful engines of the world can be useful forever.

• • •

Q: Thomas’ return to Medina each year is not a given. Why do Thomas organizers choose to keep coming back?

A: The main reason is because the museum works so hard to make sure the event is a success. We cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s. There have been event sites that have quit because it is too much work or they can’t comply with the requirements, or they have been pulled by the Thomas people for various offenses. The other reason for coming back to Medina is that the Thomas people are thrilled with the community involvement here. They love to see the welcoming signs on local streets and in businesses. They, and we, know that this event can be somewhat taxing and disruptive to a community. Our hope is that people do not tire of, or take for granted the importance of this event to our community. We can assure people that the Medina Railroad Museum will make all efforts to ensure that “Day Out With Thomas” is an annual event for a long time to come.

Contact editor Michael Regan

at 798-1400, ext. 2226.