Here Comes Santa Claus...on the Santa Train

Growing up in the Appalachia of the 1960s and 1970s, I experienced a culture that was a unique blend of traditions and values passed down through "old" families like mine which settled land there prior to 1820, mixed in with modern attitudes and ideas piped in like proverbial sunshine via television and radio.

Today, Appalachia is more connected to the rest of the country and world than ever before thanks to better roads, regional airports, cable networks, the Internet, social networks and more. These things are in many ways, the great cultural "levelers" of our time. (Some would call them the cultural "killers.) Today's Appalachian youth pretty much speak and dress like the youth in all corners of the U.S. They listen to the same music; they have the same icons. I know this, yet it's still weird for me to hear rap blaring from a pickup truck driven by a young white kid as it passes me on the highway near where I grew up.

But some things haven't changed all that much. Unemployment remains high. Few new jobs are being created. There is still widespread poverty. Kids (and parents) are still hungry. Many don't have adequate healthcare. And Santa Claus won't visit every home this coming Friday.

Of course, thousands in Appalachia have already gotten a glimpse or an up-close look at the jolly old man in red.

For 67 years Santa has made an annual appearance in Appalachia--tossing small presents like candy, stuffed animals, pencils, notebooks, toys, mittens, gloves, hats and scarves off the caboose of the Santa Train.

When I was a kid, just a few weeks before Christmas mom would take me and my brother to see Santa on the Santa Train. We'd join our school friends and cousins on the tracks near Speers Ferry, just past where the CXS railroad (back then the C&O) crossed U.S. Route 23 on its way to Tennessee.

Our little hearts would beat faster and louder in anticipation when we'd hear the first whistle of the approaching Santa Train. A railway employee was usually on hand to keep us from crowding or leaping too close to the tracks. We'd form a line along the tracks, usually never more than one kid deep. The parents would hang way back, giving us plenty of maneuvering room for plucking that cool gift out of the air or off the ground.

(Pay attention to the part about our parents hanging way back--and not participating other than to hold any loot that we handed to them before dashing back to the front line for more.)

There must have been celebrities on those trains--Santa always had a helper--but I couldn't tell you who any of them were. (My mom, probably could; maybe I'll ask her.) The important part is that Santa and his helpers would toss out handful after handful of candy, toys and other stuff that most of us didn't really need or want--like pencils or mittens (ugh!)--and we'd go after it. For me, it was mostly the thrill of the chase and the glow of success when I actually got something good.

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I saw the Santa Train for the last time as a kid, but I was probably a non-participating teenager, watching my little brother go for a toy. I do know that I wouldn't see the Santa Train again for over 20 years.

In the mid to late 1990s, Mom and I look my brother's two kids to the Santa Train. We couldn't believe the size, pushiness and greediness of the crowd--especially the parents.

We knew many of the people there. What should have been a fun outing for two kids turned into a semi-frightening experience when we temporarily lost sight of the kids in a surging crowd. The entire train full of gifts wouldn't have been enough to satisfy those gathered on that little spit of flat land.

I've never been so disappointed and dishearterned.

Based on these photos and this video, which features this year's special guest/elf, country singer Wynonna Judd, nothing has changed. If anything, the crowd might be even larger.

It seems like an annual tradition and altruistic event that I loved as a child has become an annual destination for hoards greedy people who may not even need the items tossed overboard at each stop as the train runs from Elkhorn City, KY, through southwest Virginia to Kingsport, TN.

I am certain that some of those gathered at Santa Train stops along the train's route could have used and would appreciated the toys and other items tossed from the train, but there's no guarantee that they were lucky enough to get any.

I am equally certain that some of this year's Santa Train attendees had a great time--whether they caught any gifts or not.

By some accounts, however, this year's Santa Train experience didn't exactly inspire the Christmas spirit. Within days after the Santa Train came through on Nov. 21, negative comments started to flow into the "mailbag" for the Kingsport Times News. Here is a sampling:

"The grownups were getting most of the toys and the little ones nothing. They need to find another way to give the kids toys. Only one-third of the kids got toys, and the adults were leaving with trash bags full. I think they need to hand each kid a toy and not sling it out through the crowd." Read the entire comment and the discussion that follows.

"Watching parents and teenagers rip toys out of little children’s hands was sad. ...Having to watch greedy people steal from children is not my idea of Christmas cheer." Read this comment and the discussion that follows.

"It took me two years to convince my daughter to bring my grandchildren out to take part in the Santa Train activities. Now, three years later, I regret she listened to me. My youngest grandchildren come home in tears each year. Instead of the spirit of giving and kindness, they have learned greed and selfishness. They have had teens push in front of them to catch everything that was tossed in their direction. They have had adults actually take things away from them." Read this comment in its entirety.

Let's all think about the lessons we can take away from this year's Santa Train. And let's keep our fingers crossed that the organizers can come up with a better way to distribute tons of toys and other items to the people who should be getting them--the kids...all of the kids. (Of course, I'm assuming the train can carry enough giveaways for every kid along the way.)

If you just can't get enough of the Santa Train because it's new to you or an interesting social experiment in the heart of Appalachia, here's a video log of the trip by one of Santa's helpers: