(The following story by Maggie Borman appeared on the Journal-Courier website on December 14, 2009.)
ROODHOUSE, Ill. — A limited amount of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the addition of new stops to the south mean a holiday train will make only one stop in Illinois this year — in Roodhouse.
The Kansas City Southern’s 2009 Holiday Express is a six-car Christmas train that includes the chance to meet St. Nick. It has typically made several Illinois stops.
“Unfortunately, with the limited number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this means that we have had to cut some stops to add others,” corporate communications officer Doniele Kane said. “We are looking forward to our visit to Roodhouse this year and will consider other area stops in coming years.”
Kane said the company tries to have the train visit new communities each year and several were added on the south end this year
In its ninth run, the Kansas City Southern Holiday Express train will bring Santa and his elves to 22 communities in eight states throughout the Kansas City Southern Railway Co.’s service territory. That area includes Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois.
The Holiday Express will roll into Roodhouse at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the old railroad depot.
Access to the Holiday Express is free and open to anyone. Led by KCS’ Southern Bell business train, the Holiday Express train includes a smiling tank car “Rudy,” a flat car carrying Santa’s sleigh, reindeer and a miniature village, a gingerbread box car, the elves’ workshop, a reindeer stable and a little red caboose. After visiting with Santa, visitors can walk through two more cars filled with displays and children will receive gift bags.
In addition to bringing Santa and his elves to each community on the scheduled stops, the Holiday Express makes a contribution of Walmart gift cards to The Salvation Army to provide warm clothing for children in need.
The Holiday Express was created in 2001 after volunteers dedicated over 8,000 hours to the rigorous transformation of the retired freight train. Festive music and lights complete the Holiday Express package.
The Holiday Express train was built on the tradition of the former Gateway Western Santa Train which made stops in small towns from East St. Louis to Blue Springs, Mo. Gateway Western was bought by KCS in 1997 and in 2000, KCS employees noticed that the Santa Train was the only Christmas some children had and that some didn’t even have essentials such as coats, hats and gloves. The employees became committed to elevating the project to the experience to what it is today.
“Like many companies in North America, the economy has had a significant effect on our business, so we had to think carefully about whether to run the Holiday Express train this year,” KCS Chairman Michael R. Haverty said. “We decided the goodwill, contributions to those in need and the holiday spirit that the Holiday Express generates in communities by bringing Santa to town is even more important this year.”
For more information about the Holiday Express and its stops, go to ksi.com/holidayexpress.