Annual Santa Train makes Christmas run today

Santa Train schedule:

Kentucky

Shelby --- 6:30 a.m.

Marrowbone 6:45 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.

Elkhorn City 7:25 a.m. - 7:45 a.m. 

Virginia

Toms Bottom 8:05 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.

Haysi 8:27 a.m. - 8:42 a.m.

Clinchco 9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Fremont 9:28 a.m. - 9:53 a.m.

Dante 10:28 a.m. - 10:48 a.m.

St. Paul 11:08 a.m. - 11:28 a.m.

Dungannon 12:13 p.m. - 12:33 p.m.

Ft. Blackmore 12:53 p.m. - 1:08 p.m.

Kermit 1:48 p.m. - 2:18 p.m.

Waycross 2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. 

Tennessee

Kingsport 3:08 p.m. ---

SHELBY, Ky. – With nine railroad cars and weighing tons, the CSX Santa Train may be the world’s biggest Christmas sleigh.

And with its cargo of 15 tons of toys, food and other gift items, to be given out today at 14 predetermined stops along the train’s 110-mile route through Eastern Kentucky and the coalfields of Southwest Virginia before returning to Kingsport, Tenn., it is almost certainly the best stocked.

Poised to usher the holiday season into Appalachia for the 68th consecutive year, the Santa Train remains a holiday tradition around these parts. Organizers and sponsors Food City, the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce and Kids Wish Network call it the world’s longest Christmas parade.

“CSX is honored to be part of the Santa Train,” said Tori Kaplan, director of corporate citizenship and special events at CSX. “This event is our way of giving back to the people who live along the Santa Train route and see our trains each day. We’re looking forward to helping everyone kick off the holiday season.”

The train will visit both isolated coal towns like Haysi and Dante, as well as more populated bergs like St. Paul. Crowds historically range from hundreds to thousands. Organizers this week agreed crowds grew last year, but aren’t certain if that was in response to the tough economy.

“We’ve seen significantly larger crowds along the route. Dungannon, for example, was significantly larger last year. In Kingsport, St. Paul and Dungannon, we’ll be throwing toys off of flatbeds [trailers],” said MaryBeth McClain of the Kingsport chamber.

“I don’t know if the economy had any effect on the donations. We’re privileged to receive monetary donations year-round, from all over the country. Last year, Kids Wish Network donated $130,000 worth of toys and this year they came back and donated $300,000 worth of toys. They’re now our fourth sponsor,” McClain said.

Food City is involved because the route passes through much of its market.

“It gives something back to the communities. We’ve got stores all up and down the tracks and I think we need to leave the community better than how we found it,” said Ed Moore, Food City’s director of special projects.

The route encompasses some areas that could use a helping hand. Cumulatively, the Virginia counties where the Santa Train stops are among the poorest in the state, according to a 2006-2008 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.

On average, the median household income of Dickenson, Russell, Scott and Wise counties is about $29,000, or about 43 percent below the national average and almost 20 percent of its residents live below the national poverty level.

Among the guests aboard this year’s train are country music duo Naomi and Wynonna Judd. The Grammy Award-winning Kentucky natives are riding the train together for the first time days before they kick off a national tour in Green Bay, Wisc.

The train is scheduled to depart Shelby at 6:30 a.m. and make two additional stops in Kentucky before crossing through the Breaks Interstate Park. Its first of 10 Virginia stops is scheduled at 8:15 a.m. at Toms Bottom. It is scheduled to arrive in Kingsport shortly after 3 p.m.

dmcgee@bristolnews.com

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