Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails
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Thomas & Friends™: Explore the Rails
A 1500 square foot traveling exhibit from
Table of Contents
4 Overview
5-14 Exhibit Walkthrough
15 Rationale
16 Design Approach and Criteria
2
Developed by:
Minnesota Children’s Museum and HIT Entertainment
Content:
Science, technology, engineering, math
Size:
1500 square feet, easily fills 2500 square feet
Rental Fee:
$45,000
Primary Target Audience:
Ages 2 to 7, families and school groups
Languages:
Exhibit text is in English and Spanish
Support:
Site support manual (including programming activities,
marketing kit, and installation guide)
3
Overview
All aboard to explore!
Shrill whistles and the unmistakable clatter of wheels rolling over rails float across the pastoral
landscape. Friendly chatter fills the air. It is a unique land that has held a special place in the
hearts and imaginations of children for generations. Welcome to the Island of Sodor!
In Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails children explore and interact with the familiar faces and
sights from HIT Entertainment’s popular series. Designed for children 2 through 7 (and their adult
caregivers) the exhibit combines exciting play opportunities with important concepts in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), and an emphasis on developing 21st century skills.
These ideas are woven and layered throughout the exhibit, creating an experience that speaks to
a diversity of interests, age groups, and learning styles.
As they travel through the space, children help Thomas and his friends solve a variety of
challenges. These interactive opportunities range from simple sorting and shape identification to
more complicated engineering obstacles. As children confront new challenges and test their skills,
the smiling faces of Thomas, Percy, and others are there to offer encouragement and remind
children of how “useful” we all are.
4
Exhibit Walkthrough
Area 1.0 Entry
Visitor Experience
As visitors approach the exhibit gallery,
they see the familiar windmill and other
island scenes framing the exhibit entrance.
The entry builds and encourages visitor
excitement, along with identifying the
exhibit and welcoming guests. It is a portal
to the Island of Sodor and the world of
Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends!
1.1 Entry Sign
With bright colors and recognizable sights,
the exhibit’s entry signage welcomes
visitors and provides space for the exhibit
title and sponsorship information. The
scene on the sign is similar to the opening
of the television series, showing the
windmill, curving railway line, and puffy
white clouds commonly seen across the
island.
1.2 Toy Train Return
Located on the back of the entry sign, the toy train return is a helpful reminder that the exhibit’s
toys need to remain in the gallery. To grab people’s attention, a large collection of trains are
displayed in an artful pattern around the toy return.
Area 2.0 All Aboard Thomas!
Visitor Experience
The first thing visitors see when they go
through the entry is the star of the show:
Thomas the Tank Engine! With his iconic
blue body and winning smile, the scaled
model of the beloved train fills the center
of the room. It anchors the entire space
and serves as the exhibit’s centerpiece.
Families excitedly gather in front of
Thomas to have their photos taken.
Children climb inside his cab to manipulate
levers and valves and pretend to drive
Thomas along the tracks of Sodor.
5
2.1 Thomas Model
From his buffers back to his coal bin, from
his funnel all the way down to his wheel
arches, this large model captures nearly all
of Thomas’ details. Children climb into the
cab and explore the engine’s inner
workings. The model is equipped with
levers and other moveable parts that
trigger train noises such as breaking,
whistles, and steam.
Learning Objectives:
Collaborate with peers engaged in play and connect through a shared enthusiasm for
Thomas
Refine physical abilities such as eye-hand coordination by pulling the levers and balance
by going up and down the step
Make observations and discoveries into the working components of a steam engine
2.2 Photo Kiosk
Visitors gather to have their picture taken and
turned into a digital postcard. A photo kiosk and
display lets visitors have their picture taken next to
a mural of Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt, and email
it to friends and family. Visitors enter their email
address, or that of a friend or family member, and
the postcard is sent to their inbox with special
promotional material.
Area 3.0 Knapford Station
Visitor Experience
Rising up behind the Thomas model is the glass and steel roof of Knapford Station. Just as the
station on the show is full of hustling and bustling people and engines, the exhibit’s station is busy
with excited children and adults enjoying interactive activities throughout the area. Children on
the station platform sort freight and baggage on to train cars, making sure everything gets
loaded securely. Across the way, visitors put
on a conductor’s uniform and role-play
around the ticket booth, selling train tickets
and fixing the train schedule.
3.1 Station Environment
The partial recreation of Knapford Station is
scaled to fit inside the exhibit, yet large
enough to accommodate a number of
activities and create an immersive experience
for visitors. It includes two glass atriums, the
platform, and a section of the station building.
6
3.2 Loading Zone
Two train cars sit inside the station with one having seats and luggage and the other being more
open in order to store freight.
Carts on the platform hold luggage, crates, sacks,
livestock, and other goods, all of which are made
from sturdy and exhibit-safe materials. Children
load the objects into the coaches based on where
they think they belong. Certain locations may be
clearly designated for certain items, such as a pen
for livestock or bins for luggage, while other items
can be stacked in different combinations to fit the
space available (similar to the game Tetris). When
the cars are loaded, the activity changes to an
unloading activity for the next group of visitors.
Learning Objectives:
Identify and sort different suitcases, crates,
and other three-dimensional shapes by their
physical characteristics
Invent, design and explore different ways to arrange all the cargo onto the train car
Work collaboratively with others- take turns, listen to others’ perspectives, and load or
unload the train car
Parent Tip:
Knapford Station features a parent tip graphic (3.2.5). The graphic explains to adults and
caregivers how the physical activity of loading and unloading the train cars has connections to
math concepts. For full text, please consult the exhibit text document.
3.3 Destination Station
A conductor’s uniform invites children to dress up and use
pretend money to sell tickets to other visitors. Boards posted
inside and outside the booth list the ticket prices to different
destinations around the island. Ticket and money—decorated
with an image of Thomas—are
stored in a drawer underneath the
counter and beautiful brochures are
displayed outside the booth.
Learning Objectives:
Explore early math concepts
such as counting, one-to-one
correspondence and more advanced
concepts such as value
Interface with peers;
cooperate and take turns acting out
the different roles
7
3.4 Tick Tock, Fix the Clock
Three large clocks inside the station building
each have a label underneath it that identifies
the clock as the arrival time for Thomas,
Gordon, or Henry. Children press a button
underneath each clock and the voice of Sir
Topham Hatt tells them about situations that
are impacting the arrival time of one of the
trains. He asks visitors to adjust the clocks
based on whether the train is late or arriving
early. Each clock addresses different
increments of time (hour, half hour, and 15
minutes) to meet educational standards and
challenge different age groups.
The arrival time on each clock is affected by multiple situations, ensuring that the clocks are never
correctly set and are always ready for the next group of visitors.
Learning Objectives:
Build upon time telling abilities by understanding what the hands and numbers of the clock
represent
Area 4.0 Island Exploration
Visitor Experience
A large train table is recognizable to many visitors as the Island of Sodor. As they approach the
table they notice Brendam Docks, the rock quarry, railway crossings, bridges, and other
recognizable features. Visitors choose from a wide range of engines or other vehicles, pushing
them all around the table and allowing them to explore this miniature version of the island.
Throughout their adventure they interact with the table by hauling cars, operating cranes,
changing track routes, and other activities. Visitors are even able to create large sections of track
and crawl underneath the table to access different activity areas.
While the train table
provides children with an
open-ended play
opportunity, it also includes
prompts suggesting missions,
jobs, or challenges that
promote STEM concepts and
the 7 C’s.
8
4.1 Train Table
A large custom train table that looks like the Island of Sodor includes crawl-through areas that let
children “pop up” and play in the middle of the island. Portions of the table have been raised or
lowered to increase accessibility for younger visitors or those with limited mobility or using
wheelchairs. The table includes major locations in Sodor, such as Tidmouth Shed, Brendam Docks,
the Rescue Station, the quarry, paint factory, and other landmarks.
The train table includes toy trains and
track pieces, allowing visitors to create
routes or spurs, and adding an important
engineering component to the table. In the
free build area, children can build bridges
that connect to raised track segments. The
table integrates other props, such as
buildings and collapsible bridges, as well.
Learning Objectives:
Imagine, plan and execute various
innovative track options for trains to
navigate through to accomplish tasks
Connect and cooperate with others
to share materials, create stories and build
dialogue
Parent Tip:
The train table features a parent tip graphic (4.1.1.7). The graphic provides a brief explanation
of engineering and STEM thinking, and encourages adults to look for it around train table. For full
text, please consult the exhibit text document.
4.2 Biographies, Jobs, and Challenges
A large wall graphic near the table shows the Steam Team
parked at Tidmouth Shed. Near each train is brief
biographical information and prompts. These prompts will
include challenges children could use (or adults could
suggest) to help them engage in, extend, or deepen their
play.
Some challenges are simple, such as “Travel around the
entire island.” Others might be more complex or include
multiple steps, such as “Take the quickest route to deliver
the mail to the rescue station and Brendham Docks. Then
pick up rocks at the quarry and use the shortest route to
take them to the farm.”
Learning Objectives
Contemplate plan and strategize various routes around the island
Encourage conversation and interaction between adults and children to show children’s
thinking and reasoning.
9
4.3 On and Over the Rails
Children place a toy train on top of an
adjustable ramp at this experimentation station.
The goal is to get the train up and down a hill
and around a curve to the bottom of the ramp.
If the ramp is set too high, the train goes too
fast and falls off at the curve. If the ramp is too
low, the train goes too slow to make it up the
hill. Hypothesizing and experimenting about
why the train goes faster or slower, children
engage in a common play activity that is also a
physics exercise.
Learning Objectives:
Explore forces of movement such as gravity, push and
pull, and the factors impacting those forces such as
weight and height
Contemplate, make hypotheses, and execute various
approaches to get the trains to the bottom of the ramp
Area 5.0 Sodor Steamworks
Visitor Experience
Visitors excitedly approach the Sodor Steamworks ready to help Victor, the Steamworks
manager, fix and improve the engines! Inside the building, interactive activities revolve around a
large detailed model of Percy. Some activities ask visitors to help fix or maintain Percy while
others prompt visitors to consider the differences between the island’s engines. Each activity
provides a glimpse of how trains work, stoking children’s curiosity and encouraging them to learn
more.
On one side of Percy visitors use oversized
nuts, bolts, wheels, rods, and wrenches to put
the little green engine’s wheels back on,
making sure they are good and tight. On the
other side of the model visitors choose train
parts to put on, exploring each part’s
purpose as they do so. Alongside Percy
children work together to load coal and
pump water to get Percy ready to chug.
5.1 Steamworks Environment
This multi-sided display is styled after the
Sodor Steamworks and features Victor on the
front of the structure. Visitors walk around the
entire display, helping fix the train inside.
105.2 Fix the Wobbly Wheels
At the center of the Steamworks is a
large model of Percy, the number 6
green engine. A prompt on one side of
the structure explains that Percy’s wheels
are wobbly and he’s come to get them
fixed. A storage area with oversized
and easy to use wrenches, nuts, blots,
and rods is located nearby.
Visitors fix Percy’s wheels by removing
the old wheels from the model. They then
put the new parts on, experimenting to
find the right order and combination of
wheels, rods, and bolts, and deciding
which tools are best for the job.
Learning Objectives:
Identify and describe objects and materials by physical characteristics
Build confidence by trying out different placements and positions of the train wheels and
rods to get them working
Strengthen small muscles and improve dexterity when working with the tools and train
parts
5.3 Every Part Has a Purpose
Next to the wheels interactive, a variety of three-
dimensional parts are displayed along the wall. The
parts—funnels, lanterns, buffers—are grouped together
and labeled to let visitors know what they are. Visitors
remove the old parts from Percy and replace them with
different shaped or different colored options.
Learning Objectives:
Make comparisons between two or more parts,
including whistles, funnels and lanterns, and
contemplate their use
Remove train parts and problem-solve by
choosing replacement parts to come up with a
solution
115.4 Get Percy Going
Percy needs to get going, but
his engine won’t work because
he doesn’t have enough coal
and water. It is the children’s
job to load him with enough
coal and water so he can get
going. Working together on a
model of Percy (the same
model used in the other two
interactives), visitors put coal
on to a conveyer belt and into
his coal box while another
releases water from the water
tower. Once they have loaded
enough coal and water, and
built up enough steam, a
whistle blows and a chugging
sound is heard.
Learning Objectives:
Work cooperatively with peers to start the steam engine
Observe, analyze, conclude, and reflect on how Percy’s
engine makes and uses steam energy
5.5 Engine Observations
A large graphic of trains representing different types of engines is featured along another wall.
The image shows steam engines, a narrow gauge engine, a
diesel engine, and an electric engine. Visitors try to spot the
differences between the engines and hypothesize about other
differences they may not be able to see.
Learning Objectives:
Make comparisons between four types of trains: steam,
diesel, electric, and narrow gauge steam engines
Raise questions and theorize differences in train
technology and share thoughts with others
12Area 6.0 Sodor Tot Spot
Visitor Experience
Set aside for some of the exhibit’s youngest visitors, the tot spot
provides activities designed for toddlers. The Island of Sodor
serves as the visual theming for the area, with its green hills and
blue skies providing “the structure” of the tot spot. Young visitors
play within a semi-enclosed space that provides seating for
adults. A busy wall full of sliders, mirrors, a spinner, and other
stimulating interactives surround the space and padded floor,
perfect for crawlers.
6.1 Tot Spot Structure
The rolling hills of Sodor serve as the inspiration for this area,
with tot spot displaying and visually referencing the landscape.
Young visitors safely explore and move through the space, while
adults keep an eye on both them and the rest of the exhibit
space.
Parent Tip
The tot spot structure features a parent tip graphic (6.3.1). The graphic explains how simple
sensory exploration is an important aspect of early childhood education. For full text, please
consult the exhibit text document.
6.2 Busy Wall
Surrounding the interior of the tot-spot, the busy wall is full of enjoyable and age-appropriate
activities for toddlers. Sliders, mirrors, flip doors, and toys allow babies and toddlers to
experience the world of “Thomas” in their
own way.
Learning Objectives:
Build upon developing language
abilities by babbling, talking and
interacting with Thomas and
friends activities
Develop eye-hand coordination
and work small muscles by
opening doors, turning knobs and
sliding trains along a “track.”
Area 7.0 Engine Driver’s Common Room
Visitor Experience
Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends have delighted children for generations. Many of those
children have grown up and are now parents or grandparents themselves, and they want to share
the world of Thomas with their special little ones.
13This space—themed to look similar to the engine
driver’s common room—displays a retrospective of
Thomas, featuring the different media he has been
featured in. Younger visitors learn about Thomas’
history and older visitors reminisce and share their
memories of the number one blue engine. The
retrospective’s casework and graphics are
integrated into the furniture, seamlessly fitting into
the common room scene.
7.1 Common Room Scene
A wall of the engine driver’s common room serves as backdrop for a retrospective of Thomas the
Tank Engine.
7.2 Retrospective
Images hung on the wall in picture frames tell the story of Thomas while integrating the content
into the common room scene. This special history is presented in eras, showing the evolution of the
books, shows, and toys. Including the history of the series spurs intergenerational conversations
about a shared childhood experience. Models from past television series are on display, adding
to the richness of the area.
Learning Objectives:
Connect and share with
others’ familiarity with and
appreciation for “Thomas
& Friends”
Notice, observe and recall
the vast ways Thomas and
Friends have appeared
over the years
14Rationale
“Lying in bed as a child I would hear a heavy goods train coming in and stopping at Box
Station…There was no doubt in my mind that steam engines all had definite personalities. I would
hear them snorting up the grade and little imagination was needed to hear in the puffings and
pantings of the two engines the conversations they were having with one another: "I can't do it! I can't
do it!" "Yes you can! Yes you can!" -Rev. A.W. Awdry
What started in a young boy’s imagination evolved into bedtime stories, a long running book
series, one of the most successful children’s television programs of all time, and now, for the first
time, a traveling children’s exhibition. As of 2014, Thomas & Friends regularly reaches 110 million
households across the United States and an even larger audience through internet streaming,
DVDs, and toys. With Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails, Minnesota Children’s Museum is excited
to continue expanding that audience and delight existing fans across North America with this
engaging and educational exhibit.
Along with its enduring popularity, the lessons of Thomas & Friends make it an attractive topic for
a children’s museum exhibit. The show’s characters confront everyday obstacles and overcome
them through cooperation and creative problem-solving, learning about fair play and friendship
along the way. These lessons are relatable and important in children’s early years. They also lend
themselves to the types of play experiences championed by Minnesota Children’s Museum,
providing inspiration to the activities and interactives throughout the exhibit.
With all of the series’ major characters being trains, cars, or other modes of transportation, the
world of Thomas is a natural launchpad for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)
exploration. Children’s STEM learning happens every day in all kinds of environments. It doesn’t
require microscopes, math worksheets, or digital screens. Young children’s STEM-based learning is
made visible as they identify problems, ask questions, seek answers, and explore tools and
materials. The exhibit integrates STEM-based activities seamlessly into the locations and
characters of the show. Selling tickets and fixing the train schedule require math skills. Building
train routes around the train table uses problem-solving and engineering skills. Fixing Percy’s
wobbly wheels and loading him with coal get children thinking about the technology behind steam
engines.
The exhibit’s combination of STEM-based learning and timeless lessons—bolstered by the series’
enduring popularity—calls upon and nurtures children’s growth in 21st century skills that lay the
foundation for future success in school, work, and life. Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails provides
visitors with fun and engaging educational activities that support the Museum’s mission of sparking
children’s learning through play.
15Design Approach and Criteria
The exhibit is designed to transport visitors to the Island of Sodor, surrounding them with places
and faces they recognize from the show. The exhibit and its components include a mix of scales
while being cognizant of the HIT style guide in order to include as much of the Island of Sodor as
possible, as well as more characters. The exhibit utilizes a mix of three-dimensional and two-
dimensional techniques, as well as audio, to create an immersive, multi-sensory experience that
can fit inside a variety of spaces and accommodate different size constraints.
The following criteria were used throughout the design process:
Audience Considerations
Target an audience of children ages 2 through 7 years
Encourage and accommodate family learning
Support multiple entry points and varied learning styles
Accommodate users with varied physical and cognitive abilities
Welcome visitors of all genders, races, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, and physical
abilities
Present instructional and explanatory text and media in both English and Spanish
Physical Considerations
Present interactive devices in meaningful contexts
Function effectively with minimal facilitation by staff or volunteers
Support the developmental and ergonomic needs of the target audience
Fit within a 1,500 square feet in floor plan and allow for low ceiling height of 9 feet
Structures and components to be free-standing, adaptable to layout in a variety of space
configurations, and presentable on all sides
Use scenic backdrops to enhance environments and increase flexibility of exhibit layout
Allow for the free flow of visitors in and out of the space
Be of solid and durable construction to withstand 10+ years of travel to 30 venues
Be easily installed by four people and require no preparatory
Exhibit Goals
By transporting children to the mythical Island of Sodor, the exhibit provides opportunities to:
engage with fun, active, constructive and meaningful STEM experiences, harnessing
children’s innate curiously and eagerness to explore
foster and promote experiences with peers that showcase the powerful result of
teamwork; and
elevate and expose children’s thinking for adults and reinforce the adult’s vital role
throughout the learning process
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