Catskill Mountain Railroad's Polar Express

A ride on the Catskill Mountain Railroad's Polar Express has characters come to life from the children's book turned into a movie by author Chris Van Allsburg for children in Kingston, NY,

The magic begins on a cold december evening where families decked out in matching pajamas can be seen entering a tent outside the scenic tourist railroad's station, Inside the night begins with a performance by singer Minnie Dee as passengers keep warm.

An appearance by the train and stories's conductor David Rubinstein comes on stage with Hero Boy, a character from the movie and book, which ushers passengers on to the train. There they are treated by performances, songs, hot chocolate with milk provided by local diatry institution Boice Brothers and cookies baked fresh daily by Deisings Bakery.

The evening ends with a visit to the North Pole as the train drives by Santa and his waving and singing elves. On the way back to the station each passenger is given a silver sleigh bell.

Young passengers vigorously jingled them, smiling, but I couldn't hear it.

Train rides on the Polar Express run each weekend through to December 28th, for more imformation on you can purchase a ticket, visit catskillmountainrailroad.com