(Source: Kansas City Southern press release, November 8, 2011)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern (KCS) announced today that its 11th Annual Holiday Express will distribute $108, 550 in gift cards to the Salvation Army to provide warm clothing and other necessities for children in need at stops along the Holiday Express route. Since its beginning in 2001, the Holiday Express project has raised over $1 million for this cause.
Special thanks to the major sponsors, who helped make this year’s charitable contribution possible, including The Kansas City Southern Charitable Fund, Michael and Marlys Haverty Family Foundation, DST Systems, Inc., Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Husch Blackwell LLP, ITS Technologies & Logistics, LLC, Sinclair Occupational & Environmental Legal Consulting and Watco Companies.
The six-car train with Santa Claus and his elves will be open to the public on 27 dates in 25 communities in seven states through KCS’ U.S. service territory, including Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. Access to the train is free.
Led by KCS’ Southern Belle business train, the Holiday Express train includes a smiling tank car “Rudy”; a flatcar carrying Santa’s sleigh, reindeer and a miniature village; a ginger bread boxcar; the elves’ workshop; the reindeer stable; and a little red caboose. The Holiday Express was created in 2001 after volunteers dedicated over 8,000 hours to the rigorous transformation of the previously retired rail cars.
The Holiday Express project was built on the tradition of the former Gateway Western (GWWR) Santa Train, which made stops in small towns from East St. Louis, Ill. to Blue Springs, Mo. (GWWR was purchased by KCS in 1997.) In 2000, KCS employees noticed that the Santa Train was the only Christmas some kids had, and that some did not even have essential items like coats, hats and gloves. The employees were so touched that they committed to elevating the project to the experience that communities enjoy today.
More information is now available at www.kcsouthern.com or at KCS Holiday Express on facebook.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., KCS is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama. Its primary U.S. holding is The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, serving the central and south central U.S. Its international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lázaro Cárdenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent interest in Panama Canal Railway Company, providing ocean-to-ocean freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal. KCS’ North American rail holdings and strategic alliances are primary components of a NAFTA Railway system, linking the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S., Mexico and Canada.