Jingle Bells on the Rails

The sleigh is not Santa's only mode of holiday transportation. For the ninth consecutive noel, the jolly red guy and his Mrs. will roll on rails. Every hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., this weekend and next, the Santa Train departs the Southern Nevada Railway station for the North Pole (better known as Boulder Highway near the Railroad Pass hotel).

"It's become a tradition," says Greg Corbin, director of the Nevada State Railroad Museum. "It's a great way to kick off the holiday season."

During the 40-minute round trip, the Clauses pass through the cars to pose for photos, hand out candy canes and listen to tykes fib about being good all year. Hot dogs and sugary snacks and liquids are available for purchase to fuel these fantasies.

The Santa Train, which seats 300 in five cars, travels on 3.5 miles of track laid in 1931 to haul cement and steel to the Hoover Dam construction site. It's pulled by a 2,500-horsepower Union Pacifiç diesel engine.

"That's 2,500 reindeer power," Corbin says.

Despite how voluminous that reindeer count sounds, children are cautioned that the Santa Train cannot fly.

"The speed limit is 20 miles per hour," Corbin says.

All advance tickets are sold out. But a quarter of the seats were held for day-of sales. The $4 tickets are by cash or check only. Corbin advises non-ticketholders to arrive as close to the 8:15 a.m. box office opening as possible -- unless they don't mind riding the Yuletime Express. That's the consolation prize for Santa shutouts: a 15-minute train ride with no St. Nick photo-op or candy canes.

"Oh, but it doesn't cost anything," Corbin says.

Attention, incurably late dads: You know your kid won't care about that. So pack your own Santa suit, just in case.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.