Christmas train rides blend nostalgia with fun

LEBANON, Ohio — A piercing whistle cuts through the chilly air, and strings of Christmas lights burst into color. Impatient, wriggling children suddenly become still, gazing wide-eyed as parents and grandparents direct their attention to the suddenly moving landscape outside the windows.

Santa's North Pole Express is on its way.

Scenes similar to this one in southwest Ohio are repeated across the country as tourism railways convert their steam- or diesel-powered trains to Christmas-themed transportation for a growing number of passengers.

Excursions in California, North Carolina and elsewhere wrap up the holiday spirit with cookies and hot chocolate, "North Pole" stops, visits from Santa and, in some cases, pajama-clad children la "The Polar Express."

"It's just a great way to get into the Christmas spirit, and you get to ride a train too, maybe for the first time," said Connie Davis, 58, of Foster, Ky.

Davis took the season's inaugural run of Santa's North Pole Express with about 20 family members at the request of her father, who worked on a railroad.

"My father turns 80 this year, and he wanted his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have a chance to ride on a train for Christmas," she said. She enthusiastically leads her train car in rousing choruses of "Jingle Bells" and "Here Comes Santa Claus."

Shortly after the Cincinnati Railway Co. train pulls out of the depot, Santa and Mrs. Claus begin walking through the train cars.

"Santa, Santa . . ." small voices chant as the couple, dressed in their traditional red finery, hand out strings of small jingle bells and wish everyone a Merry Christmas, slowed a bit by exuberant hugs from children clustered around them.

After about a 30-minute ride, the train stops at a replica of the North Pole. Hot chocolate is served, carolers sing and parents snap photos before the train heads back to this town about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.

The bells that Santa gives out are an important part of the scenario as Christmas trains try to capture some of the magic of Chris Van Allsburg's popular tale, "The Polar Express."

In the book about a boy awakened by a steam train that takes youngsters to the North Pole, Santa Claus gives the boy a bell from his sleigh as the first gift of Christmas. The story's popularity is underscored this year by a new animated adaptation featuring Tom Hanks.