Polar Express
Chris Van Allsburg, who was born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan, has written a children’s Christmas book that will some  day  rival Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol†and “The Night before Christmasâ€. Van Allsburg’s book “The Polar Express†is the story of a young boy who is a true believer and takes a Christmas eve ride on a steam train to the North Pole. The book was written n 1985, and fueled by a popular movie of the same name has quickly become a Christmas literary tradition.
Interestingly, the steam train featured in the book also has a Michigan connection and was chosen for its unique identification number “1225″. Since 1957, the train had been relegated to showpiece status on the campus of Michigan State University. In the 60s, I remember walking by the giant rusting hulk many times; especially on cold winter days. I first discovered the train in the summer of 1966 while at freshman orientation and I have always had fond memories of “the little train that could†to steal from another popular children’s book.
A little more than a decade later a group of students formed a fan club and started restoration work, which ultimately would take another two decades. In 1983, it was moved to Owosso and in 1988 it made  its  first rail trip.
As a famous newscaster once said “here’s the rest of the storyâ€: In 2004, the train began making holiday winter excursions and starred, along with Tom Hanks, in the film “Polar Express†based on Van Allsburg children’s book. Due to grinch-like copyright problems the train excursion can’t use the name Polar Express.
Read more about Chris Van Allsburg on his website and read about the movie version here. You can check on 1225 excursions and its fundraising efforts  here. 1225 is currently undergoing massive rebuilding of its engine so check back to see when it will be up and running.
Make your plans now to ride the polar excursion next year-it is typically sold out early.
Thank you for the information - both grandsons love the Polar Express book, dvd and activities. We also do academic nights at my elementary school using the book.
I am interested in getting additional information on this topic for educational purposes. A train ride would be great! So many small town children haven’t experienced a “real” train ride.