KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New owners run the Ottawa Northern Railroad's shortline and are ready to welcome visitors in Baldwin City, Kan., for the holiday season.
Reid Dawe, Rock Island Railroad general manager, says their holiday train, Santa Rocket, is set to roll down the rails.
“We’re excited, we’re ready to go,” Dawe said. “We finally got everything lined up so we can serve the community and the city.”
Dawe said the Ottawa Northern Railroad is a whole new crew.
“New equipment, new trains, new people, new faces, it’s totally a new company," he said. "It has nothing to do with the old company or any of the other companies."
He says the new shortline owners from Memphis, Gwen and Robert Riley, paid about $3 million to bring the train back to life.
Dawe said the previous owners left families without a train ride after they bought tickets.
“We’ve got all of that straightened out,” he said. “We’re moving forward and not looking back to the past because we have a very bright future.”
Surrounded by thousands of Christmas lights in rail cars, Dawe said this is a chance to make holiday memories.
“This experience allows kids to grow from small, itty-bitty to teens, where they enjoy coming to this," he said. "It’s a family tradition. That’s what we want to do, make family traditions. A train ride from Baldwin City all the way to the North Pole on our Santa Rocket, it's about a 30-minute ride,” he said.
The train riders get a visit from Santa and heads home.
The adjacent train cars at 1515 High St., in Baldwin City, offer some history with a look at the inside 1920 mail cars.
“It’s always fun to see kids' faces light up,” he said.
Mother-daughter duo, Echo and Haisley Endecott, are looking forward to the revival of the train.
“Being able to do this again is something I know she’s looking forward to and the rest of everybody else in the community,” Echo Endecott said. “Parents are the magic of Christmas and being able to do that for my children is something I look forward to every single holiday. Bringing people here to experience the true magic of Christmas that our town offers is probably one of my favorite things we have.”
“What I like about this is that you can finally get up on it again," Haisley Endecott said. "It’s usually all closed down and I like to see all the beautiful stuff and the Christmas things in the train. It’s really cool."
For more information about the train's history and tickets to ride the train, click here.
Train rides begin November 30.
KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.