Kids from across the Isle of Man were joined by dinosaurs on a special train excursion last week.

Isle of Man Transport’s annual ‘Dino Express’ saw children and their parents travel from Douglas to Ballasalla on the steam train, with a dinosaur treasure hunt on the way and dinosaurs at each station.

Participants were then met by a Jurassic ranger after a five minute bus journey to Manx National Heritage’s Rushen Abbey for a special show.

The new Jurassic friends included ‘Echo the Velociraptor’, ‘Angie the giant Ankylosaurus’ who swings her tail and flutters her eyelashes, and ‘Dylan the cheeky water-spitting Dylophosaurus’ as well as a whole range of teenage and baby dinosaurs.

Speaking about the event, hospitality and events executive officer at Isle of Man Transport, Lottie Watterson, commented: ‘The Dino Express was a sell out with extra service trains added to meet the demand over three days with glorious sunshine.

‘Nearly 1,000 took the Dino Express locomotive from Douglas to Ballasalla Station searching for giant dino eggs on the way.

‘They were met by dino rangers before travelling by dino bus to the Jurassic World set against the beautiful heritage backdrop of Rushen Abbey.

‘Our brave customers trained as Jurassic explorers, with Emily the Brontosaurus, a towering carnivore T-Rex called Roxy,  an overly enthusiastic Spinosaurus called Scar, a giant three-horned Triceratops called Betsie and many baby dinosaurs.

‘There was a dino dig to find bones and lots of educational interaction throughout. Thankfully, no one got gobbled up during the weekend (we think...)

‘Overall, it was a very engaging and positive community collaboration, with special thanks going to all of the Isle of Man Railways team, the Manx National Heritage team at Rushen Abbey and our main sponsor The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.’