BY BARBARA CLARK
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAPE COD CENTRAL RAILROAD
All aboard the Polar Express! The train, which flies through children’s best dreams at holiday time, will soon be waiting in the station at Buzzards Bay, all its lighted windows beckoning. Nearby, holiday lights will decorate a big tent with its queue of pajama-clad children waiting to board. There will be candy cane pathways, scents of evergreen, glittery balls and tinsel—and let’s imagine some light snowflakes falling. The ticketholders range from tots to teens, along with their moms and dads. Expectant young passengers hold special golden tickets that will allow them to depart on the Cape Cod Central Railroad’s holiday Polar Express—bound for the North Pole.
Massachusetts Location
This year the Cape Cod Central Railroad is hosting 51 separate runs of the festive North Pole-bound holiday train, which runs multiple days on an expanding schedule, through December 23, so that kids and families can meet Santa Claus and receive the “first gift of Christmas”—a bell from Santa’s sleigh, the very one described in the children’s classic “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg, published in 1985. That book went on to become a classic holiday movie in 2004, securing it in the imaginations of children everywhere.
Polar Express holiday train excursions, based on the book and movie story, are fast becoming classics of their own, allowing kids to experience for real the excitement that they felt when reading the book.
This chock-full Polar Express journey unfolds under the experienced eye of Kaylene Jablecki, manager of passenger operations and chief operating officer for Cape Rail and its subsidiaries, Mass Coastal and Cape Cod Central Railroad. It is her 12th season in charge of planning such Cape holiday excursions and her sixth in charge of the officially licensed Polar Express trip, under the auspices of licenser company Rail Events, Inc.
Fifty-four “offi cial” Polar Express trains are licensed nationwide. Only five such trips run in New England, with Cape Cod the only
Prior to 2019 the Cape Cod Central ran other holiday train rides with smaller passenger lists before joining on with the official Polar Express. According to Ms. Jablecki, the newer trips have taken off in popularity. This year, between 750 and 800 passengers will climb aboard at Buzzards Bay for each individual run. Between 2022 and 2023 attendance increased by 9,000 guests, with a record 38,000 passengers taking the Polar Express here in the 2023 season.
The Cape Cod train has nine passenger cars; four are sellout double-deckers with premium up-top views. Four ticket classes enable a range of prices for all pocketbooks, and all travelers get to enjoy the full North Pole experience.
A recent visit to the Buzzards Bay depot, constructed in 1910 and beautifully restored last year through MassDOT funding, showed that decorating was just getting underway under the practiced hand of MaryAnn Novick-Chaffee, a member of the extensive Polar Express team that carries out this many-layered event. A seasoned veteran of these holiday happenings, Ms. Novick-Chaffee oversees decorating at the depot and in the nine-passenger cars that make up each trip. She is also food and beverage coordinator for the excursions and an onboard supervisor during the train’s runs. This day at the depot, she was arranging a beautifully detailed model train inside a viewing case, surrounded by strings of lights and cotton snowdrifts.
It’s the first step in preparation for this year’s fantasy trips. “We make magic,” said Ms. Novick-Chaffee, who’s a veteran crew member and enthusiastic supporter of the Polar Express. We are dedicated to “making the trip memorable…from the moment you walk in the door. If you don’t believe in Christmas when you come, you will believe in Christmas when you leave.”
According to Ms. Jablecki, arriving at the depot is the beginning of that magic for youngsters. Families follow a lighted pathway into the depot, which is filled with holiday scenes, lights galore and seasonal glitter, and helpers at the ticket counter to hand out the all-important golden ticket to each child.
Ticketholders exit the depot into a huge 140-foot tent that forms the queuing area for those waiting to board. There’s a gift shop with Polar Express paraphernalia, including, of course, copies of the classic picture book that began the whole adventure. Families, Ms. Jablecki said, often purchase the book in order to follow along with the story as the text is broadcast during the train journey to the North Pole. There’s also a place inside the tent where kids can write their letters to Santa. The back wall is a clear window, so those waiting can look out to view the train.
Once aboard for the approximately 90-minute adventure a dress conductor punches each child’s golden ticket with their own name, and youngsters can settle back for a train ride full of entertainment. They’ll share the trip with many of the characters that are in the story, from dancing chefs to Hero Boy and Hobo. Everyone can sing along to the movie soundtrack, play interactive games and join in singing favorite Christmas carols.
During the festive journey the train glides slowly past the North Pole, aglow with lights, where Santa and his elves climb aboard to meet the Polar passengers. “Santa visits with every child,” Ms. Jablecki said, and each child receives Santa’s “first gift”—a silver sleigh bell from the harness of his famous reindeer fliers, now ready to begin their aerial journey.
Ms. Jablecki hires close to 130 people each year to bring the excursion its magical quality and ensure that it runs in a well-ordered way. There are 90 to 100 “cast members,” from dancing chefs to elves and dress conductors, performing alongside the many behind-the-scenes helpers who make it all possible. At a Polar Express job fair this year, she said, 89 candidates came to apply.
Those hired, Ms. Jablecki said, come from many New England-area towns and sources, and ages range from about 14 on up. Similar to many theater companies, the working experience becomes something of a “family affair,” with many cast members returning over multiple seasons to be part of the team. One cast member, now in her 60s, returns every year and has become a popular featured performer on the trips. Two retirees, who worked as conductors and now reside in Tennessee and Florida, have returned several times to work a season.
It’s a lot of hard work, Ms. Jablecki said, noting, a lot goes on “behind the curtain [to] make each trip memorable.” Once the cast is selected, everyone participates in five days of intensive pre-Polar training. Besides learning the choreography for three different dance numbers, along with music from the movie, each character learns their own backstory. The elves all wear individual name tags, and each has a history to share with the kids they meet. “There’s a lot of roleplay during the training sessions,” she said.
She described the importance of crowd control issues and the timing of each trip, given the large number of participants and young travelers. On any scheduled date, a second trip follows close on the heels of the first, with three trips on most days. At the depot, Ms. Jablecki said, there’s a friendly presence of officers from the Bourne Police Department on hand to answer questions and keep the crowd moving smoothly toward the waiting train. The trips include selected onboard assistants who help make sure the trip clicks along and arrives at the North Pole in time to meet Santa, who’s a very busy guy right now.
In addition to ensuring a well-ordered trip, it’s also a major job to keep the passenger cars clean for each excursion, and crews work between runs to complete this all-important task. One proof that they’ve done it well is that Polar Express trips ran successfully all during COVID, with careful cleanings, masks and added barriers separating seats.
“The whole team works its magic,” Ms. Novick-Chaffee said. She showed off a national award given by Rail Events, presented to Cape Cod Central Railroad with the 2023 Polar Bell Award for “Best Onboard Experience,” with the Cape railroad topping the list of all 54 national excursions in that category.
The spirit of Christmas giving runs high throughout the Cape Rail management team that underwrites the program. Cape Rail president and CEO Christopher Podgurski has been active in hosting First Responder Nights, offering free Polar Express trips to first responders and their families from all around New England. Donations collected during these events receive matching funds from Cape Rail, with the proceeds to benefit local nonprofits such as Homeless for the Holidays, Tommy’s Place or Cops for Kids.
In addition, the Jimmy Fund now rents seven of the nine Polar Express cars on a special night, allowing young clients to take a free trip to meet Santa. Each receives a complimentary copy of the book, complete with a bookplate personally signed by author Van Allsburg.