All aboard: CSX preps for Santa Train year-round

KINGSPORT — Months before the CSX Santa Train departs from Shelbiana, Kentucky, railroad employees are working tirelessly to prepare the train for its tri-state trek. Earl Mitchell, CSX manager of business fleet operations, said his department's involvement is ongoing, starting with bringing the train and its cars to Jacksonville, Florida, to be loaded up with gifts. "Once we get that completed, then we'll normally move the train back up to Waycross, where we'll finish preparing and getting the consist cleaned, exterior checked, all of the miscellaneous items ordered loaded on a train." He described a long list of preparation to be made both on and off the train to prepare for the one-day holiday event. The wreaths placed on the lead locomotive are ordered from Plant Palace in Erwin. "We are visually inspecting all of the cars — interior, exterior — ensuring the GPS and Wi-Fi is functioning properly, no defects," he said. "[We do] brake tests, make sure all HVAC systems are functioning properly, head-and-power are functioning properly, which powers the train." Angela Costa, CSX community investment manager, said planning for Santa Train happens nearly year-round. The company starts purchasing toys and gifts to be handed out at the start of the year. "We kick off our official planning in mid-January, I'd say, because in March my team and I go up to Cincinnati — as we like to call it, the North Pole — and buy all of the toys and the wrapping paper. By the end of March, we already have an idea of what we're going to do and how many toys we need to buy for the 13 stops and the backpacks and what we're going to be doing." Costa said CSX buys the toys handed out to families on the ground, as well as the toys in the backpacks distributed. A nonprofit partner supplies the winter clothing accessors in each backpack. According to Costa, the train is expected to carry the following items this year: 15,375 purchased toys More than 3,000 rolls of wrapping paper 2,400 Santa Train bears 6,000 safety books 5,640 backpacks Earlier this month, Costa said hundreds of CSX employees came together to pack the Santa Train gifts into containers to go over to Waycross. The train makes its way to Kingsport the week of the event, and the local packing party happens at Food City the Wednesday before. CSX uses U.S. Census data, drones and artificial intelligence technology to determine how many people to expect at each stop along the Santa Train route. Costa said the company is also mindful of how several areas on the route were impacted by recent floods or are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. "We always look at the census," she said. "We have great photographers, and we have drones up in the air. So thanks to AI and ChatGPT, we're able to use that information to understand what our crowd size is every year, and based on that and the year before, we can kind of guesstimate what the crowd size was last year and what it could be this year." Staying on schedule Mitchell said bringing on a veteran CSX crew helps keep everything on schedule throughout the day. Since joining the Santa Train team in 2019, Costa said CSX has not had one passenger left behind or missed the train. CSX's safety team and other employees scout the route ahead of time to make sure the grounds are clear. While changes have been made to train over the years to make operations safer and more efficient, Costa stressed the importance of connecting with the children on the ground at each stop. "If we're rushing to pass out a toy to a little kid, but we're not able to get down on their ground and connect with their eyes, what's it all for?" Costa asked. "And if we're running back to the train, we're missing that." Costa said 136 people are expected to be on the train this year as it departs Saturday morning, with 102 of those people tasked with handing out toys at each stop. Both Mitchell and Costa said they take pride in being an integral part of the Santa Train's annual run. "My guys, including myself, it's something we look forward to every year," Mitchell said. "Yes it's work, but we don't look at it from that standpoint. It's just the opportunity to give back. When you see those kids and those families and the way their faces light up and how ecstatic they are, there's just no greater feeling than that."