Happy Hanukkah! In the darkest part of the year, we have many holidays celebrating the return of light in our lives. Of course, my favorite light is a locomotive headlight, so let's get rolling with another installation of real railroading as we love to see it.
Christmas trains were rolling as we entered December. For the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society, Their weekends of operation were Dec 2-3 and 9-10. Their collection of cars, including the 1949 diner, 1951 sleeper and 1970 coaches ran trains from Scranton to Goldsboro on weekend, and from East Stroudsburg to Delaware Water Gap another weekend.
Power for the trains was provided by Delaware Lackawanna RR. On the East end was Central of New Jersey RS3 no. 1554, posed next to Reading RS3 no. 467.
For the return journey, the train is led by C420 no. 405. We se the train posed at Steamtown NHS in Scranton.
Also on December 2, Steamtown had a different type of Santa Train. This Santa Train brought Santa Claus to each of the 6 towns on the railroad route that runs between Carbondale and Scranton. Steamtown became the North Pole for a little while.
Baldwin no. 26 led the train to all of the stops. The last stop, Scranton, was the turntable plaza of Steamtown.
The locomotive whistles off as it approaches the turntable.
And she whistles to a stop in the heart of all the action.
There's Santa! The one in Red. So far, he does not need to wear the yellow safety vest.
As Santa Claus goes into the theater building, a juggler keeps the people entertained until they get their spot in line.
After a while, the steam locomotive left the turntable so the coaches can be put away for the winter.
Dropping her fire, no. 26 gets ready for her final turn on the table of 2017.
The crowd looks smaller now, but it was more that people went to wait in line for their photos with Santa Claus.
Each child received a goodie bag, cookies, hot cocoa or other items offered by different civic groups. It was a fun time with over 1600 people in attendance. Every child in line to see Santa had some lap time with the old man. The last people left around 5:30 PM.
Have you caught a Santa special lately? Perhaps a decorated streetcar or subway? Maybe even a festive train crew that decorated their engine in order to move a few freight cars around. If you have something to share, this is the place. As always, thank you for your help in keeping this a compelling weekly thread.
