Santa is coming back to town this Saturday — along with
a special guest.
The Jolly Old Elf will roll into Kingsport
after spreading Christmas cheer, from the back of his namesake train, through
towns and communities throughout Southwest Virginia and Eastern
Kentucky.
This year, Santa’s best-known travel buddy will be
singer Patty Loveless, who has ridden the train twice before.
Loveless, a Kentucky
native and Grammy Award winner, will travel with Santa on the 65th annual Santa
Claus Special, more commonly called the Santa Train.
Co-sponsored by CSX Transportation, the Kingsport Area
Chamber of Commerce and Food City, the Santa Train is a history-steeped tradition
that each year heralds the Christmas season’s arrival in Southwest Virginia and
Northeast Tennessee.
It began as a way for Kingsport’s
merchants to say “thanks” to all the folks along its 110-mile route for
shopping in the Model
City. Santa rides the
train from Kentucky, through Virginia
and into Tennessee, arriving in downtown Kingsport just in time to
bring up the rear of the Kingsport Christmas Parade — leading to the train
sometimes being called the “longest Christmas parade in the world.”
Santa, Loveless and other “elves” will distribute an
estimated 15 tons of donated gifts to children of all ages at 14 stops,
including the end of the line in downtown Kingsport.
The train will not stop this year at Speer’s Ferry, a
location that usually attracted a crowd in years past — but which isn’t easily
accessible from nearby roads.
Gifts are distributed only when the train is stopped.
Nothing is thrown from the train while it is in motion.
Each year, thousands of people — including families for
whom a visit to the train is a multi-generational tradition — turn out at stops
along the way, regardless of the weather. Forecasts for Friday and Saturday
call for mostly sunny or partly cloudy skies, with high temperatures in the
upper 40s and 50s — in other words, good weather both days for train watchers
and Santa chasers.
The Santa Train is scheduled to pull into downtown Kingsport at 11 a.m. Friday and depart at 1 p.m. bound for
Kentucky.
Gifts are not distributed on the trip north, but little
glimpses of history are free for the taking whether the train is coming or
going. The roster of railroad cars used for the train includes several rich
with the nation’s 20th-century history.
And much of the train’s journey winds through the
countryside not far from one road or another, offering motorists there a little
look at what used to be a common sight in the region: a train made up mainly of
passenger cars.
In fact, as the train heads south early Saturday and
passes through Elkhorn City,
Ky., the railroad tracks pretty
much parallel state route 80 — known in those parts as “Patty Loveless Drive,” in honor of that
area’s famous offspring.
If you can’t make it elsewhere on the train’s route and
just want a glimpse of history, a quintessential spot to view the train or snap
a snapshot: watch as the Santa Train crosses the Copper Creek Viaduct, visible
from U.S. 23 about 15 miles north of Kingsport. The nearly 1,100-foot-long
trestle is 167 feet high and was completed in 1909.
You won’t be close enough to see Santa — at least not in
detail — and there’s not a stop nearby. But for sheer pageantry of the moment,
it’s a good view.
This year’s Santa Train is set to have three locomotives
and nine railroad cars. The cars, in their expected running order, front to
rear, are:
The New York (CSXT No. 10). Originally
The Kentucky
(CSXT No. 363). A power car, the 363 was built about 1950 by
Pullman-Standard as a dining car. A CSXT predecessor, the Louisville &
Nashville Railroad, acquired the car and rebuilt it as an electrical power
car about 1980. Recently outfitted with new diesel generators and control
equipment, the car contains four office car-quality staterooms and a small
lounge.
The New York (CSXT No. 10). Originally
The Youngstown
(CSXT No. 11). Built in 1954 by Pullman
for the Erie Railroad as a five double bedroom/10 roomette sleeper, this
crew car was named the “Spirit of Youngstown.” Its original assignment was
along a route from Youngstown, Ohio, to Chicago
and back the next day. Riders boarded the Youngstown
at 9:30 p.m. and departed west on the Erie Limited at midnight, returning
eastward on the Atlantic Limited, which departed Chicago at 10 p.m. A similar sleeper car
called the “Pride of Youngstown” was delivered at the same time.
Names for the two sleepers were selected after a week-long contest held by
the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce. The Youngstown was conveyed to Conrail on
April 1, 1976, numbered CR 11.
The New York (CSXT No. 10). Originally
The Mississippi
(CSXT No. 8). A sleeper car, the Mississippi
was built in 1923 by Pullman
as a tourist car. The Southern railway acquired the car in 1954 and
converted it into a coach. Conrail acquired the car in 1983 and renumbered
it CR 24. It was converted to an eight-stateroom sleeper car in 1980 and
renumbered CR 8.
The New York (CSXT No. 10). Originally
a 1925 Pullman-built parlor observation car with drawing room created for
service on New York Central’s Empire State Express, this dining car was
renamed the “Hudson River” and served the Empire State Express in the
early 1930s. The large rear platform was constructed to accommodate
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wheelchair. It was renamed “Kalamazoo
River” in 1942 and served the Twilight Limited, then renamed “Victoria
Park” in 1947 and used in special service. In 1952, it was converted to
track inspection car No. 30 and renumbered 76 by Penn Central in 1976. The
car was part of the funeral train for slain presidential candidate Robert
F. Kennedy. Changed to No. 10 by Conrail in 1977, the New York is now part of CSXT’s fleet.
The Greenbrier (CSXT No.
319). The company built this car as a coach for the Illinois Central
Railroad about 1915-1920. Around 1971, a private party acquired it and
used it as a roadside cafe. CSXT predecessor Seaboard Coast Line acquired
the car about 1985. The car was completely rebuilt at CSXT’s Waycross
Shops and is now a dining car with table seating for 24 and lounge seating
for 12.
The Michigan (CSXT No. 12). Built as a
parlor car for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1951 by Budd, it was
transferred to Penn Central in 1968. In 1980, it was converted to a
meeting room/boardroom car. It is now a dining car.
The Indiana (CSXT No.
315). Built by the St. Louis Car Co. in 1953, the Indiana is a former U.S. Army Ambulance
Unit. In 1987, it was rebuilt at CSXT’s Waycross shop for use as a classroom
car.
The Illinois (CSXT No. 350). This
former CSXT 350 was built by St. Louis Car in 1953. During its lifetime,
it has served as an Operation Lifesaver car, Chessie Steam Special car,
dormitory car for the West Virginia Railroad Maintenance Authority and as
a U.S. Army Ambulance Unit Car.
The West Virginia (CSXT No. 310). This
is Santa’s car. Built as an Army hospital car in 1953 by the St. Louis Car
Co., the 310 has a small lounge, two roomette-style sleeping rooms and a
large, open room. For all but two days a year, the West Virginia serves as a
conference/reception car. The weekend before Thanksgiving, the West Virginia is
transformed into Santa’s “sleigh.”
