[:)][8D][:)][:)] What a night ! Tonight Santa arrived via Amtrak in Mattoon Illinois. I was expecting 50+ people and we had 300+ people show up. Many waiting more than an hr to see Santa arrive. We wanted to have an event to show off the ICRR Depot in Mattoon & show that the depot could still be part of the social fabric of the community. We had a model train display & some refreshments. Amtrak coorperated, by allowing Santa & his helper to ride the train. It was really exciting to see so many happy people.
People enjoyed it because it was free, you didn’t have to pay to have your child’s picture taken with Santa like the “big box store & the mall” & people got a chance to socialize. We had old railroaders, grandparents, parents & children all having fun.
Santa, model trains, real trains, an old depot & cookies is an unbeatable combination.
[?][?][?] I had a women call me tonight - as her son took her grandson on a train trip (Mattoon - Effingham IL). well it seems that they didn’t get off the train in Effingham. She didn’t know how to get in touch with Amtrak & he didn’t have a cell phone. She remembered the newpaper article about Santa arriving at the Depot & she called me. I gave her the 800 number an told her they could probably catch the City of New Orleans out of Carbondale and get back to Mattoon about 5:30 AM tomorrow morning