Safari Express (Drusillas Park)

Ride
Safari Express
Drusillas Park
Location Alfriston, East Sussex, England, UK
Status Operating since 31 March 2007
Statistics
Manufacturer Metallbau Emmeln
Product Park Express
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Safari Express (formerly Thomas at Drusillas Park) is a Miniature Railway built by German manufacturer Metallbau Emmeln currently located at Drusillas Park in Alfriston, East Sussex, England, UK. It was formerly themed to the Thomas & Friends cartoon series, and was the first of it's type in the United Kingdom.

This attraction replaced the park's older narrow-gauge railway.

Design

Drusillas Park signed a long-term licensing agreement with HIT Entertainment to operate a Thomas & Friends-themed railway in 2007,[1] and opened at the end of March. The Thomas engine is similar to later duplicate models seen in Drayton Manor and Six Flags parks, but utilizes a 0-4-2 wheel arrangement as opposed to the usual 0-6-0 seen on the other models.

The engine goes past various recreations of Thomas locations, and static models of characters such as James, Bulgy and Diesel can also be seen on route.

In November 2016, it was announced that Mattel would not renew its licensing agreement with the park through to the end of March 2017. Drusillas announced that the train would be rethemed under a new area titled "Go Safari".[2] The attraction closed as such in January 2017, with Thomas, Annie and Clarabel being removed for refurbishment.[1]

On 31 March 2017, a decade after the attraction first opened, it reopened under its current name.[3] Thomas' face was removed and the engine was repainted in dark red, while Annie and Clarabel were repainted green. The other portions of the train layout were also stripped of their Thomas theming, with the static model of James becoming "Hugo", the removal of Diesel's face, and Cranky's face replaced with a giraffe graphic. Despite the debranding, the engine retains Thomas' whistle sound.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Farewell to Thomas". www.drusillas.co.uk (in English). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  2. "Thomas train to leave Drusillas". Sussex World. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  3. "African-themed Safari Express train takes over from Thomas at Drusillas". The Argus (in English). 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2024-01-26.