At Woonsocket Depot, Families Climb Aboard the Polar Express

If you believe strong enough, the New England countryside can look an awful lot like the North Pole, and you can reach that destination by train in less than an hour.

The power of belief and imagination is on full display at the Woonsocket train depot this Christmas season, where over the next few weeks some 10,000 people - the majority under age ten - will climb aboard a train for
a trip to meet Santa Claus in his Arctic home town.

The Polar Express, a Christmas show on wheels run by the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, has been huge success again this year. The
BVTC has sold out all 21 train excursions, which began in mid-November.

"The atmosphere, the environment -- everything about this trip is wonderful," said Saturday passenger Jeanine Dexter of Warwick, who's been taking grandchildren aboard the for the past nine years ago. "It brings me back to my own childhood, and I love to see the gleam in my grandchildren's eyes."

"It's a fun adventure that encourages kids to use their own imagination," added Maura Fernandes of Smithfield, who accompanied her children. "Activities like this are a great antidote to television and video games."

The 90-minute trip is inspired by the book The Polar Express, by Rhode Island author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg. It tells the story of a young boy who's near that age where most kids become agnostics when it comes to belief in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve he's awakened by a loud noise outside his window. He runs outdoors and finds a train has pulled up in front of his house, even though there are no railroad tracks in the yard.

A conductor steps out and tells him to get on board. Our boy-hero does just that, and finds a train car filled with other pajama-clad children who've been lured aboard at other stops. They're dosed with hot chocolate and set out on a dream-trip that calls to mind the journeys found in other children's books, such as Alice in Wonderland and Where the Wild Things Are. Eventually the train stops in a magical city, which the children learn is Santa's North Pole home.

Santa appears and hands out gifts and our hero receives a silver jingle bell from Santa's reindeer harness. The children watch Santa take off on his annual Christmas rounds, then climb back on the train for their own trek home. On the way, the boy reaches into his pocket and finds the bell has fallen through a hole and is apparently lost.

When he rises Christmas morning, he finds all the usual gift-wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. He also finds a small box. Inside is the bell, and a note from Santa telling him to fix the hole in his pocket. "At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them," reads the last line of the book. "Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me . . . "

Warner Bros. transformed the book into a computer-animated film in 2004, and through the years it has become a cult classic. Polar Express excursions now take place every Christmas season in cities across the country.

It’s been a northern Rhode Island tradition for the past 12 years. The train is filled with local singers and actors playing characters from the book. Bob Billington, director of the BVTC, is the conductor. Noel Pincince of Woonsocket, well known for his involvement with the arts and musical events, is the engineer. Debbie Maroney is one of several Hot Chocolate Chefs.

"Every year we try to add something more, to ramp it up a little," said Billington. "We're always trying to make it a little bit better."

This year that means having the train leave from Woonsocket's 19th-century train depot. In previous years, families stepped aboard at the parking lot of the Anne & Hope store in Cumberland. To set the tone, the depot has been decorated with Christmas wreaths, an antique sleigh, and a mailbox for children's letters to Santa.

Before the train leaves on Saturdays and Sundays, the building is crowded with kids, parents, and grandparents. Many of the younger passengers - and a few of the older ones, too - are dressed in pajamas, just like the children in the book. They come from over New England.

"Luckily my mother lives in Tiverton," said Brianna Thompson of Marlow, NH, who carried six-month daughter Bristol in her arms. "She heard about it and was able to get tickets."

Once they're on the train, the families find a "presenter." A singer and story teller is riding in their car, waiting to lead them in songs and games. A chef serves hot chocolate and cookies, and the conductor passes through the car to punch souvenir tickets.

Midway through the trip, a clamor interrupts those activities. It's Santa and Mrs. Claus, rambling through the train and stopping in each car to pass out jingle bells to the kids.

After 40 minutes traveling west, the train reverses direction and returns to Woonsocket. The whole way each car is filled with voices singing Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman.

"This is a very popular event every year," said Donna Houle of the BVTC. "This year we have businesses like Raytheon reserving blocks of tickets for their employees.

"With our move to the depot, Woonsocket merchants have been very helpful. At , John Chan is giving 10 percent off to families that are in town for the trip. And the is offering two museum admissions for the price of one if you show a Polar Express ticket stub."

A number of Rhode Island businesses and organizations help run the event. is the chief sponsor. Anne Jalette of decorated the depot. Students at the Riverz Edge arts program made many decorations as well. Oscar Hancock of in Woonsocket donated the "Polar Express Depot" sign that hangs outside the station. The Blackstone Valley Heritage Corridor Commission, which leases the train depot as headquarters, invited the BVTC to use the building.