Santa Trades His Sleigh for a Train
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ST. PAUL, Va. — Appalachian children scrambled over rocks and oily railroad crossties Saturday to claim some of the 12 tons of gifts and candy tossed from a train during the 46th annual run of the “Santa Claus Special.”
As usual, Santa Claus was seated on the rear platform, tossing gifts as the train slowly passed crowds of children. The gifts included 3,000 digital watches, 50,000 cassette tapes of children’s stories, 5,000 toy cars, 10,000 comic books and 3,000 Frisbees.
“I have people tell me they came as a child and now are bringing their grandchildren,” said Frank Brogden, who has played Santa for four years. “It’s a great tradition.”
The Santa train’s route takes it from Shelbiana, Ky., through 30 communities in eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia before arriving in Kingsport, Tenn.
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