A steam locomotive decorated as the popular British cartoon creation Thomas the Tank Engine is to debut in Shizuoka Prefecture, The Japan News reported on 2 July.
Operated by Oigawa Railway and manufactured in 1942, the c11-227 model was decorated by placing a mask of the character’s face on its front and painting the main body blue. It began operating on 12 July, and will run for three months.
One of the Thomas Locomotive’s outings carried about 70 children from a local nursery school in the prefecture for a distance of about 40km.
