Holiday Train

Since our son loves trains, we like to give him opportunities to ride them when we have the chance. During the holidays, several places around here run special holiday trains. We did one last year that had a Polar Express theme. This year, we decided to try the holiday train ride run through the Illinois Railway Museum. We hoped that they would run one of their older trains; however, when we got there, we saw one of the Chicago El trains from 1993:

We think they used it because it was heated. At least it was decorated inside:

Since it was early in the holiday season, the train wasn't full. We drove a short distance into the countryside, admiring the snow, before the train stopped, then reversed course. We drove back to the museum and finally stopped at the diner, which doubled as Santa's Workshop.








Mrs. Claus was there to greet us:




















They served us hot chocolate right away, but we had to wait in line (right by all the train items for sale) before Alex got to see Santa:




















Santa gave Alex a bag of toys and treats, and Mrs. Claus gave him a cookie. We then got to sit down for a while and do some crafts (scrapbook pages). An entertainer played a few carols on a keyboard.

We were on the last train ride of the day, and by the time they ushered us out, it was dark and cold. Alex said "good-bye" to his favorite trains for now--at least until next year.