Illinois Railway Museum in McHenry County announces its full event schedule for 2021
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) in McHenry County has confirmed that its most popular event, Day Out With Thomas™ featuring a full-size Thomas the Tank Engine™, will be held for the first time in two years on July 10-11 and 17-18, 2021. The event will offer visitors the opportunity to ride on trains behind Thomas and Percy, meet Sir Topham Hatt, and enjoy a variety of family-friendly activities. Capacity limits are in place to allow for social distancing and health safety measures will align with public health recommendations in place at the time of the event.
“We are thrilled that Thomas is coming back,” said Nick Kallas, IRM’s Executive Director. “Last year was the first time we didn’t host Thomas since we began this event in the 1990s. All of our volunteers are looking forward to holding this event again. It’s a wonderful experience for kids and we love seeing all of the families coming out to see Thomas and Percy.”
Day Out With Thomas is only one of the special events that the Museum has announced for 2021. On June 19th and 20th, a new event offering the opportunity to be a steam locomotive engineer will be held. On July 4th and 5th, IRM will hold its annual Trolley Weekend, featuring historic electric streetcars, interurbans, and ‘L’ cars. The Vintage Transport Extravaganza, one of the largest historic automobile and truck shows in the state with some 500 vintage vehicles on display, will be held on August 1st. The following weekend, the Museum will hold its annual Diesel Days gala, featuring some of the most powerful locomotives ever built and offering opportunities for visitors to run an engine themselves. In October, IRM will hold its Pumpkin Train event, and in November and December the popular Happy Holiday Railway event will take place.
IRM is open on Sundays starting on April 11th, open all weekend dates starting May 1st, and open seven days a week starting Memorial Day. Advance ticket purchase is required and tickets are currently for sale on the Museum website for dates through mid-May. Tickets for additional dates will be added soon. A full schedule of events and open days, along with current information on mask requirements and social distancing measures in place, is available on the Museum’s website, www.irm.org.