Before I start, I should say that, since I am not the target audience, I am not going to go off of what I think of the area. If I were just going off of my personal thoughts and how I enjoy it, I would not be very positive. For this, I am going to look at how good of an area it is for families.
Now, first, let's give a bit of information about this area.
From 1985 to 2017, Raging Rapids had a massive queue right next to Old Kennywood Railroad. At the end of the 2017, Kennywood announced their plans for the park's 120th anniversary: a brand new Thomas the Tank Engine themed area. They would add a Thomas the Tank Engine train to Old Kennywood Railroad, add a Gift Shop and Indoor Play Place, and a small scenic ride, fire fighter ride, a ride that is based on a helicopter, and a drop tower. There would also be Thomas the Tank Engine Shows and there would be a retheme of Old Kennywood Railroad.
In the past, Kennywood had a contract to use the Garfield characters, but a lot of people were mad about it. Now, they are using the Thomas the Tank Engine Characters, a much better fit for an old Trolley Park.
Now, I want to first talk about each ride's ride experience.
Flynn's Fire Training is a water shooting ride. You spray water at fake fires. It is a pretty fun ride that kids love.
Next is Diesel Drivers. This is one of the most boring rides ever. The ride is just a powered oval ride that goes around some old supports from Log Jammer and some old track from the first half of Phantom's Revenge (originally operating on Steel Phantom and operating from 2001-2008 on Phantom's Revenge before the park replaced much of the remaining Arrow track). The ride is extremely boring. It never has lines and even the operators don't see a point of it. It has also had some issues with the system that sends power to the ride, as the rubber parts have been too wide in the past and have actually had to be trimmed in the past.
Harold's Helicopter Tour is another ride that opened at Thomas Town in 2018. This ride is likely very fun for little kids. I think that I would have enjoyed it if I wasn't 11 when I first rode it. I was unable to ride in the front rows, since the seatbelts in the front are designed for people around 6 years old.
The final all new ride for 2018 was Cranky's Drop Tower. This is the best ground-up addition from 2018. This is a small Zamperla drop tower. I think it would have been better if they moved the one from Kiddieland, which was better before its removal for the 2020 season. Cranky's Drop Tower is the best kids ride in the park, in my opinion. The Over the Shouler Restraints are a little uncomfortable, but they aren't unbearable. The operators won't always staple you on it, and the ride provides some okay airtime.
The final ride that is in the Thomas Town area is Journey with Thomas. This completely reuses the track layout of Old Kennywood Railroad and the station is even still called the Old Kennywood Railroad Station. Sadly, though, they removed the theming from Old Kennywood Railroad and now have some pretty crappy Thomas the Tank Engine Theming. Still, though, the ride is well loved by kids. I heard a story from a former ride operator about how a kid was just so excited to ride Thomas the Tank Engine as a birthday surprise, since he was a massive fan of the show.
Now, I should mention one thing: I have never seen any of the Thomas the Tank Engine based shows. I did get out of the area shortly before a show and slightly after a show on some points at Holiday Lights, but that is about it. I know that there is music and I know that there is some kind of introduction from a "train conductor" (a payed actor or actress that works for Kennywood for this show), but that is all I've ever seen or heard.
Now, I want to answer the question of "Is Thomas Town worth a visit?"
The answer to that question is that, if you have kids who are massive fans of the show, I would recommend a visit here. If you don't have kids but remember the show from when you were a kid, there is no harm in just going in for a little bit and seeing what they have. You'll see a lot of kids happy that they visited the area.
Thomas Town is a very well themed area of Kennywood and was a good fit for Kennywood. The best part of it is that they didn't even have to remove any rides to add this. They just needed to reroute the queue for Raging Rapids and re-theme the train ride.
Before I end this, I do want to address one thing: Derailment. In 2018, Journey with Thomas derailed... twice in a month. This should not be a concern, though, since they have made the necessary safety modifications. Also, if there is some kind of issue with the Thomas train, they still have the old Gimbel Flyer train and operators are trained on how to run both trains (despite them 2 being completely different control systems). The ride hasn't had any major incidents since 2018 and there were no injuries caused by the derailments. This should not be a worry on your trip and shouldn't get in the way of you riding the ride.
I hope that you find this article helpful and I hope that you read the next one. Bye.