HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

Day Out With Thomas™ 2008: The Great Discovery Tour Pulling into Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

Thomas the Tank Engine™ to visit Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum March 28-30 & April 4-6, 2008

02/22/2008

Calera, AL

Peep! Peep! Thomas the Tank Engine is set to roll into Calera for the Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour. The event, which takes place March 28-30 and April 4-6, 2008, will be hosted by Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, http://www.hodrrm.org/, and presented by HIT Entertainment and sponsored by the LEGO Group.

For more than six decades, children have been captivated with the tales of Thomas the Tank Engine. Pulling out of the station for its 13th consecutive ride on the rails, the Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour will visit more than 45 cities in the United States and Canada. Day Out With Thomas is the only place for families to take a ride with a 15-ton replica of everybody's favorite #1 engine, Thomas the Tank Engine, and enjoy Thomas-themed activities at the Imagination Station, including stamps, temporary tattoos and hands-on arts and crafts. Each year the tour grows, traveling to new destinations, adding new activities and welcoming new visitors.

Thomas the Tank Engine, star of Thomas & Friends™, on PBS KIDS® and PBS KIDS Sprout℠ will be kicking off his Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour in March and is expected to welcome more than 1 million passengers through December. This limitedengagement experience features a variety of Thomas & Friends-themed entertainment for the entire family, including:

• A 25-minute (approximate) ride with Thomas the Tank Engine
• The opportunity to meet Sir Topham Hatt™, Controller of the Railway
• A Thomas & Friends Imagination Station; featuring stamps, temporary tattoos, hands-on arts and crafts activities and coloring sheets.
• Storytelling, video viewing and live music

The tour provides a unique, interactive family experience at every station, offering a variety of entertaining activities that reflect the local flavor of each stop. At the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, activities will include: an inflatable Moon Walk, inflatable maze, putt-putt golf, petting zoo, sand play area, railroad signal yard, clowns, live music, storytelling, video viewing, and a 12-minute ride on a narrow-gauge steam train ($3 fee).

The approximately 25-minute train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine will depart every 45 minutes, rain or shine, with departure times at 9 am through 5:15 on Fridays and 9 am through 6 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets for the Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour are $18 for ages two and up.

Tickets are on sale now by calling toll-free 866.468.7630 or logging onto www.hodrrm.org. For more information and directions contact the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum at 1-800-943- 4490 or http://www.hodrrm.org/.

For general information, or to find a Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour event near you, visit www.thomasandfriends.com.

For media use only: For high-resolution downloadable artwork or additional information please go to www.hitnewsonline.com select Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour Artwork.

About Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

A non-profit, all-volunteer organization, the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum was organized in 1963 as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and is dedicated to the preservation and operation of historically significant railway equipment. The golden age of railroading and the rich heritage of the people who built and operated them come together at the Heart of Dixie, the official railroad museum for the State of Alabama. Railroad artifacts and memorabilia can be viewed in a 100-year old restored depot. Locomotives, cars, and equipment are displayed in a large railroad yard as a living monument to railroad history and the W.A. Boone Memorial Library holds a large collection of historical and contemporary railroad books, magazines, photos, technical manuals and artwork.

About Thomas & Friends

Thomas & Friends invites children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story. Thomas the Tank Engine was created by a father for his son more than 60 years ago. Today, families in more than 145 countries enjoy fun and adventure with their engine friends while experiencing timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation. Thomas & Friends is making tracks to great destinations on PBS KIDS® and PBS KIDS Sprout℠. For more information about the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, please visit www.thomasandfriends.com.

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners since June 2005, is one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT’s portfolio includes internationally renowned children’s properties, such as Bob the Builder™, Barney™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Rubbadubbers™ and Angelina Ballerina™. HIT acts as a representative for The Wiggles® in the UK, US and Canada and as worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands, including Fraggle Rock™. HIT also owns the Guinness World Records™ publishing and television property and Fireman Sam™, a joint venture with S4C. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production (including studios in the US and the UK), publishing, consumer products licensing and live events. With a catalog of more than 1,000 hours of young children’s programming, HIT sells its shows to more than 240 countries worldwide, in more than 40 different languages and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. In 2005, the Company joined Comcast Corporation, PBS and Sesame Workshop to launch PBS KIDS Sprout℠, a 24-hour digital cable channel and VOD service for preschoolers. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.