The Battlefield Line (which now uses the subtitle "The country railway at the heart of rural England") is committed to bringing the best possible 'Thomas' days out. In June 2011 there were four days with Thomas and Friends - 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th. I shared the driving of Thomas with Eddie on the 25th June and I drove Daisy (the DMU) on the 26th.
In addition to the various entertainments around Shackerstone station (including story reading, playlets and the popular Engine Races), there were seven return trips to Shenton during the day operated by the main train. These were six coach trains, the first five operated 'Top-and-Tail', the sixth by 'Henry' alone, the last by 'Thomas' alone.
Departures from Shackerstone and the leading locomotive in each case were:-
10:00 'BoCo' (actually a Class 25)
11:10 'BoCo'
12:20 'BoCo' ('Lunch on Thomas')
13:30 'BoCo'
14:40 'BoCo'
15:50 'Henry' (actually 'Mayflower')
17:00 'Thomas' ('Tea on Thomas')
Departures from Shenton and the leading locomotive in each case were:-
10:25 'Thomas'
11:35 'Henry'
12:45 'Thomas' ('Lunch on Thomas')
13:55 'Henry'
15:05 'Henry'
16:20 'Henry'
17:40 'Thomas' ('Tea on Thomas')
As a final bonus, the 2-car 'Daisy' made trips all the way to Market Bosworth and back, whilst the main train unloaded and loaded at Shackerstone. This was made possible by the approval of the arrangements for access to the newly-refurbished station at Market Bosworth. Access is provided via the Station Drive on the Up side and a new, gated level crossing provided with a Crossing Keeper, to our platform on the Down side.
'Daisy's' departures from Shackerstone were scheduled for 10:43, 11:53, 13:03, 14:13, 15:23 and 16:38. On one of the afternoon departures, 'Thomas' accompanied 'Daisy' to Market Bosworth.
Although the main train was not stopping at Market Bosworth during the day, the 17:40 from Shenton with 'Thomas' on the front, called to pick up any 'stragglers' who had missed the last 'Daisy' service.
As you can imagine, this intensive service kept everybody on their toes! Although 'Fergus' was not operational, he was posed outside the locomotive shed for his young friends to see.
My pictures are here.
Detailed pictures of the locomotives:
