INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Rail Road’s Santa Train returns for its 33rd year beginning this Friday, Dec. 1, making stops in a dozen cities on a three-day journey across the Indiana Rail Road system.
At the locations listed on the schedule below, visitors will board the train’s decorated cars to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. While waiting, they will be entertained by costumed characters brought to life by volunteers including railroaders and their family members. The event is free and open to all ages, and will also feature coats, hats, and gloves given away to help children in need.
In addition to those stops, the train will also make a Dec. 1 stop in Bargersville, Ind., at 4:30 p.m., bringing Santa to visit with guests at Bargersville Town Hall and take part in town festivities. There, and only there, no one will board the train; it will depart at 4:45 p.m.
The Indiana Rail Road’s Santa Train began as an employee volunteer project in 1989 and has grown from serving a few hundred to a multi-generational event with those who enjoyed the train as children now enjoying it with their own offspring.
“The enthusiasm of both the communities and volunteers for Santa Train grows exponentially each year,” Dewayne Swindall, Indiana Rail Road Co. CEO, said in a press release. “Being able to offer coats, hats, and gloves for warmth to those in need during the holidays is a gift in itself.”
