Poler express, Christmas flier, Santa train... the list goes on so what does your organization do for the holidays.

Holly Trolleyfest. Santa meets the streetcar at Fishhook Siding, plus a G gauge layout.

We do a simple Santa Train - kind of a throwback to simpler days. We run our regular train route but change the tour from a heritage tour through the Manhattan Project to a train ride with Santa. Santa is there and walks through all the coaches and visits with people, and then moves to a baggage car where children can go and sit in his lap and photos can be taken. Santa stays here between trips to encourage passengers to stay around. Children can also go meet Santa's "reindeer" for the event - climb in the locomotive and blow the horn from the engineer's seat.

A simple good time is had by all.

We do 3 North Pole Express runs to the North Pole on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. Live entertainer on board, Santa. Mrs. C. & Elves meet us at the North Pole and come thru the train. Chefs serve refreshments and elves give gifts.

We also have 2 Santa Specials on Saturdays where Santa is on the train the entire 1 hour 11 mile trip.

Each year the WW&F has Victorian Christmas. The train is decorated with wreaths and other boughs and such and takes visitors up the line to the next station. There they can meet Santa, enjoy a horse drawn sleigh (or wagon) ride, and gather round the bonfire. Additionally, cookies and refreshments are available. It is probably our most popular event, and we have many repeat visitors who have made this a holiday tradition.

http://wwfry.org/?p=402

Steve

We run three Santa Trains on two December Saturdays (all sold out this year). We leave the North Judson depot and pick up Santa at the first crossing who is "looking for his reindeer". Santa goes through our heated coach visiting each child.

Les (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum)

At the Rockhill Trolley Museum we have been operating "Santa's Trolley" since 1985. We've had a few changes in how the operation is done over the years, but of course the constant theme is having Santa aboard the trolley at the end of the line and visit with all the children. We have had folks coming as children in the early years of the event that now bring their own children.

We also operate the Polar Bear Express, an evening trolley ride with lights and holiday displays along the line. We have been operating this event since 2001 and we have made changes along the way. This year a short script was implemented with an elf who needs to find his way from Santa's workshop to deliver a leftover toy to Toyland. Of course Toyland is where the majority of the lights and displays are located. The museum area is also decorated as well.

Joel Salomon

As we do not have a train ride (and no trolley ride either at the moment), we do Christmas events at our museum which is located on the grounds of the old Southern Pacific depot at 400 East Toole Avenue, Tucson, Arizona. We decorate the steam locomotive and have storytelling in conjunction with the Tucson Fox Theater screening The Polar Express.

Western Railway Museum is running its regular service throughout the holiday season. Mrs. Claus is making an appearance two days. Volunteers are currently trying to gather the nerve to ask Bill Kluver to play Santa. Reservations are not being taken.
http://www.westernrailwaymuseum.org/fea ... berevents/

Niles Canyon Railway's big annual event continues to be its "train of lights". Sold out, natch.
http://www.ncry.org/content.aspx?page_i ... _id=141791

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Michigan Transit Museum is running a night Santa Train event in cooperation with the township and using the township's reservation system. Trains are sold out despite what the link says.
http://patch.com/michigan/clintontwp/al ... rain-rides

Southern Michigan Railroad found itself running the only daytime train in the region that actually met Santa. They ran it in-house and intentionally kept it a small and simple event. Nonetheless they were able to triple capacity for the second year in a row, and sold out anyway. They keep the train ride short (more runs) and see Santa at the end, so parents aren't stuck waiting for a return trip that bores the children (they've seen it and Santa's a tough act to follow.)
http://www.southernmichiganrailroad.com ... cials.html

Henry Ford/Greenfield Village, and Crossroads Village/Huckleberry Railroad, have large artificial historic villages, and are doing their usual Christmas thing, which includes steam train rides. Huckleberry sells tickets for theirs, which are all at night.
http://www.geneseecountyparks.org/pages/christmas
http://www.thehenryford.org/events/holidayNights.aspx
Something rankles me about "steam train of lights". Electricity was always in short supply on steam trains, made either by a steam dynamo or wheel-driven generators. It would certainly not be squandered on Christmas lights.

Little River Railroad in Coldwater runs their "Holday Express" which appears to be sold out.
http://www.littleriverrailroad.com/

in Owosso, Michigan, Project 1225 (SRI/MSTRP) runs a once per day train that lays over for 2 hours at a large community festival, that community being the North Pole. It's being pulled north by some steam engine or another whose number I don't recall, and south by world famous Christmas engine, star of stage and screen, GLC 398. Way past sold out. Added a bunch of commuter cars, sold those out too.
https://www.michigansteamtrain.com/north-pole-express/

From Owosso, the closest actual Polar Express franchise is in Cleveland. They were doing a lottery in July to decide who even gets a chance to buy tickets.

The only holiday operation I am aware of that isn't sold out is the Western Railway Museum.

The Florida RR Museum in Parrish, FL runs two trains each night (5 PM and 7 PM) on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for three weeks plus one train on Dec 22nd (25 trains total). Each train has around 500 seats and consists of open cars, open window coaches, a lounge car and three cabooses. It runs with a diesel unit on each end.

The trains run our normal 6 mile route to the "North Pole" where a new depot has been built. There are three Santa Clauses in the depot to handle the crowd but the kids don't know that as there are three lines to get in the depot at various doors.

The first train arrives and the passengers get off. Then, the train deadheads back to our loading location and loads for the second departure. After the second train arrives and passengers de-train the first load of passengers board the train for their return to Parrish. The train then deadheads back to the "North Pole" to pick up those passengers.

At the "North Pole" there are activities and food available plus a gift shop.

The cabooses are all for charter and those passengers have their own tents with chairs and tables for their groups while they are at the "North Pole".

This event has grown from a two night operation to the current 13 night operation over several years. It is a sell out each year with over 11,000 tickets sold as of last weekend. It is by far our biggest and most successful event.

-JH

An item worth noting on the WW&F Victorian Christmas: it is a free event "as [the museum's] way of saying “Thank You” to our Sheepscot Valley neighbors for your generous support this past year" per flyers promoting the event.

Fortunately, the museum is in a financial position it can offer this free event to thank the community, which has been very supportive of its growth.

- Bill