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Polar Expressions
An eight-year-old boy writes about a storybook train trip that came to life
Last Christmas Eve, I left a note for Santa near the fireplace, asking him to sign his name because I wanted to make sure he was really giving me the presents that said "From: Santa." He really did sign it! I think that's because he remembered me from the Polar Express train ride.
I loved trains even before I started leaving Santa Claus a plate of cookies on Christmas Eve. And my mom and dad and I read The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg, every Christmas. So last year, I was really excited when my mom told me we were going for a ride on the Polar Express. It's part of the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams, Arizona. We drove to Arizona in early December, in the teeth of a big snowstorm. I felt like I was inside the book, riding through the tall mountains that are covered with snow.
It was getting dark when we went to the old train station to get on the Polar Express. The train had 10 cars! Lots of kids were wearing pajamas and slippers. But it was a little different from the book because parents got to ride, too. Some of the grownups onboard didn't even have kids.
Our train car was old, just like the one in the book. The conductor said it was a 1923 Harriman Pullman Coach. Nice dark wood was around the windows. Sparkly lights twinkled on the metal luggage racks overhead. My mom and dad and I turned one of our green bench seats around so we could face each other. A man and a woman wearing white jackets and chef's hats, just like in the book, served us cookies and cups of hot chocolate. I took a bite of my yummy chocolate chip cookie and the locomotive pulled away from the station.
The attendants in white jackets asked us to pick up the songbooks on our seats and join in some Christmas carols. We sang "Jingle Bells," "Up on the Housetop," and "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Then it was time to hear the story of The Polar Express. As a man stood up at the front of the car and started to read, the attendants walked up and down the aisle with books open so everyone could see the pictures.
In the story, a boy's friend tells him there's no such thing as Santa Claus. But on Christmas Eve, the boy hears the sound of rushing steam and looks out his window. A big train stands in front of his house. When he climbs on, he sees lots of other kids in the coach cars. They're all in their pajamas and they're being served hot chocolate and sweets. Soon, the train is going through mountains so high the boy feels like it's going to scrape the moon.
As the train reaches a barren desert of ice, the conductor says, "There is the North Pole." When the kids step out of the train car, they see reindeer prancing, ringing the sleigh bells on their harnesses. The conductor tells the kids Santa will pick one of them to get the first gift of Christmas. Santa points to the boy who got on the train, lifts him up on the sleigh, and asks him what he wants for Christmas. More than anything in Santa's giant bag, the boy wanted one silver bell from Santa's sleigh.
As the man finished reading the story, I thought I would have asked Santa for a miniature train scene that looked just like the pictures in the book — with mountains and tunnels and a North Pole that my train could travel through. I pressed my face against the cold window next to my seat. Far away, I saw lights twinkle, and then, the colored lights of buildings. Were we at the North Pole? The train stopped, and through the window, I saw Santa Claus. He was standing in his sleigh, and all his reindeer were there, too. Then Santa climbed aboard our train car. He walked down the aisle. "Merry Christmas!" he said to each of us kids, and he pressed something small and round into each of our hands.
It was a silver bell from a reindeer's harness. Just like in the book. I put the bell in my pocket so I wouldn't lose it. This Christmas Eve, I'm going to leave the bell out beside Santa's plate of cookies and the carrots and celery for the reindeer. That way Santa will know I still believe.
Eight-year-old Peter Tabor Rossi, a third-grader in Costa Mesa, enjoys traveling and celebrating holidays — especially Christmas.
The Rail Santa Claus
Polar Express trains depart at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. November 12–13, 19–20, December 2–6, 9–13, and 16–22. Fares are $20 for adults, $8 for children under 17; free for infants under one year. The Polar Express also can be combined with a Grand Canyon Railway vacation to the Grand Canyon. For more information, visit your AAA Travel Agent at your local Auto Club office, or call (888) 874-7222.
You are reading the November/December 2004 issue of Westways. Some information contained in this publication is time-sensitive, and the terms of some offers (cruise or vacation packages, for example) or services (provisions for roadside assistance, for example) might have been superseded by subsequent information and might no longer apply.