KINGSPORT, Tenn. — For the third year in a row, the CSX Santa Train, a legacy of predecessor Clinchfield Railroad, will be sidelined — this time because of staffing and supply-chain issues.
The Kingsport Times News reports the 110-mile trip from Kentucky to Kingsport will miss what would have been its 80th anniversary edition. As in 2020 and 2021, when the train trip was cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns, Santa Train gifts will be distributed in drive-up events at Food City grocery stores along the train’s route.
“Several months of planning goes into bringing the Santa Train to life each year, meaning we are faced with making decisions as early as possible,” Bryan Tucker, vice president of corporate communications at CSX, told the newspaper. “Due to current supply chain and ongoing staffing challenges across our network, all of CSX’s resources and personnel are needed to help serve our customers and keep the nation’s economy moving. Because of this, we came to the difficult decision that it is not feasible for us to run the train in 2022.”
The Santa Train dates to 1943,and ran annually through 2019. Since 2001, it had distributed gifts at specific stops along the route, with Santa tossing some gifts from the train’s real platform, while others walked through the crowd to hand out items.
CSX and its partners still plan to hand out 5,000 backpacks with toys and winter accessories at locations still to be determined. Details will be announced at the Santa Train’s social media sites.
The Santa Train last operated on Nov. 23, 2019, with a train powered by CSX’s executive F40PH-2 locomotives [see “CSX Santa Train makes its 77th journey,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 25, 2019]. The train has operated with a variety of notable power over the years, including Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985 in 1992. For the 75th anniversary trip in 2017, the train featured two diesels in Clinchfield paint — F3 No. 800 and a former Seaboard Coast Line SD45 in a Clinchfield scheme [see “CSX to run repainted F unit …,” News Wire, Nov. 6, 2017].
Another victim of this modern generation. As each year passes without The Santa Christmas Train, interest fades and the memories of it disappears. The younger generation of today is indifferent to trains, Santa Claus and Christmas in general.
Just give the kids a tablet, a cell phone or video game. That is all they are interested
in. CSX will be just as happy not running the train Their stockholders and corporate bigwigs are only interested in their bottom line and profit margin
Joseph C.Markfelder
guess they will do like everybody else, call in a truck
BAH HUMBUG, The grinch is alive.
An open letter to Alan Shaw, CEO of Norfolk Southern. Mr. Shaw, here’s your chance to take over the Eastman Chemical business at Kingsport on an even larger level and get a major one-up on CSX. How quickly can you get a train and a route together? Maybe not for this year’s Santa Train, but go ahead and commit now to running a Norfolk Southern Santa Train in 2023 if CSX chickens out again. Start it in Richlands, VA or somewhere eastward, with stops where practical at Raven, Cleveland, St. Paul, Coeburn, Norton, Big Stone Gap, Duffield, Gate City, Weber City, and into Kingsport on the trackage rights from Frisco on what is definitely a light-density line owing to the coal decline in recent years. 120 highway miles from Richlands roughly equals the current Shelbiana, KY to Kingsport, TN route. What was it that former Southern Railway President D.W. Brosnan used to say? Oh yes, IT CAN(xx) BE DONE.
I agree with you Wayne. My maternal ancestral home is Honaker and I can attest that all that you mentioned is not a booming region economically.
It seems the suits are content with allowing the industry to become less relevant to people’s lives.
Ditto the Amtrak “Toys For Tots” train here in upstate NY. R.I.P.
IMHO, it’s purely a top-down decision. If Foote wanted it to run, they would find a way. He could have appointed a volunteer (retiree?) to coordinate with operations, and I’d be SHOCKED if they couldn’t find volunteers to crew the entire staff, sans conductor & engineer.
I counter find volunteers for every position…including conductor & engineer, whether or not the union would let them volunteer is another point entirely. The whole supply chain part is complete BS though.