Now departing Essex..... With her cylinder cock steam stirring up the last of the fallen leaves, the Valley Railroad's Mikado #3025 slowly eases 9 heavyweights out of the Essex Yard to begin the 1PM "Santa Special" excursion on a glorious day-after-Thanksgiving.
In years past, some of the Black Friday retail hype tended to hold down the attendance on the post-Thanksgiving holiday trips, but not any more! With the railroad's popular, night-time, North Pole Express Trains regularly selling out as early as September, parents desperate to take their kids on a Santa Claus excursion have been blowing off the mall crowds and heading for Essex instead. In addition to the 4 nightly North Pole Express Trains, the Valley is also offering 3 daytime Santa Specials on weekend days. These trips are less expensive than the night trains and the temperatures at train-time are a little more bearable. And oh by-the-way....these trips are sold out too....but there were seats available until recently, so only the big-time procrastinators have been left behind. There was a time when tourist railroads such as the Valley Railroad considered their peak ridership season to be May through October. Now, it's November and December!
