Visit with Santa Claus aboard vintage rail car

Families can create fond holiday memories when they board a train for a ride with Santa. Scenic and tourist railways around the country offer holiday excursions sure to become favorite childhood recollections. Most of these railways offer nostalgic journeys on trains lit up and decorated for the holidays.

Vintage locomotives pull handsome restored cars, while youngsters share hot cocoa and cookies and thrill to visits with Santa, often accompanied by Mrs. Claus and the elves. It is a time for wishes, stories, music and the magic of the season.

More than 30 holiday rail lines nationwide are licensed to use the name "Polar Express," the title of author Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 children's book and the 2004 animated movie based upon it. Excursions usually last about an hour. Children often arrive in their pajamas and robes to listen to the story as the train rolls toward the "North Pole," where Santa boards and gives each child a silver sleigh bell.

Nevada families enjoy convenient access to several holiday excursion trains offered by short line railways within the state and in nearby northern Arizona. Special holiday trains include the Nevada Southern Railway from Boulder City, the Nevada Northern Railway from East Ely, the Virginia and Truckee Railway from Virginia City and the V&T from Carson City. In Arizona, the Grand Canyon Railway runs from Williams and the Verde Canyon Railroad operates from Cottonwood, near Sedona.

Three of these lines are official "Polar Express" licensees: the trains from Ely, Carson City and Williams.

Because seating on all of the trains is limited, reservations are strongly recommended, as soon as possible. The V&T's "Polar Express" from Carson City's Eastgate Depot sold out by November. The V&T's Comstock Christmas trains from Virginia City still have seating. They are affordable at $12 for adults and $6 for children. Check availability online or call (775) 847-0380.

Seats are available on the "Polar Express" from Ely on the Nevada Northern, which runs two or three excursions every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during December as well as most days the week before Christmas. Tickets cost $29 for adults and $16 for children ages 4 to 12. Infants and toddlers ride free seated on parents' laps. Reserve seats online or call (866) 407-8326.

Check on availability on Grand Canyon Railway's "Polar Express" trains from Williams online or call (888) 848-3511. Its 3:30 p.m. matinee, new this season, is sold out, but seating on weekly trains at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. might still be available. Expect to pay $30 for adults and $20 for children.

The Verde Canyon Railroad has seats available on its Santa Claus Express. It runs at 1 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays through Dec. 21. These excursions run the full four hours of regular rides through a wilderness canyon and back. Expect to pay coach fares of $54.95 for adults, $5 less for seniors, and $34.95 for seated children. First-class fares are $79.95 for all seats. Reserve online or call (800) 528-7245.

The Nevada Southern Railway in Boulder City offers very affordable holiday excursions, plus several extras. While you wait for your train, visit a workshop across from the station and a nearby rail car to enjoy model train layouts set up by the local Toy Train Operators Society. In the lower parking lot, the Nevada Southern Live Steamers operate garden-sized steam trains. A few visitors at a time may ride a restored observation car into the railway's "bone yard" of unrestored equipment. On a short section of narrow-gauge track paralleling the standard-gauge track used by the regular trains, watch the fire-up of the 1875 Eureka, a privately restored historic narrow-gauge steam locomotive once used in the movies.

The Santa trains run six times daily on weekends through Dec. 18. One car is wheelchair accessible. Fares are $5 per seat. Make reservations online or by calling 486-6933. Print a $1 discount coupon from the website. The ticket booth opens for day-of-sale tickets at 9 a.m. For advance ticket sales, visit the booth on weekends from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. or go to the administrative office across the street from the station from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's column appears Sundays.