With Christmas just days away, Santa’s staff who were helping run The Polar Express trains at the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum (CCRM) are celebrating a successful season of the train rides — having taken passengers to the “North Pole” to visit Santa ahead of Christmas 48 times over 15 days, according to CCRM President Mary Kay Nelson.
Nelson spoke with The Chronicle on Monday, Dec. 22, following the final weekend of The Polar Express trains running from the museum. Tickets for The Polar Express went on sale back on Sept. 1.
“We had such a popular demand. We had, up to the last day, people wanting tickets for The Polar Express,” Nelson said. “But we couldn’t accommodate them. We sold out by the first of November.”
The Polar Express began departing from the CCRM on Nov. 15 and ran every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until this past weekend. In total, Nelson said 4,263 tickets were purchased for a gross ticket revenue of $366,105.
With customers still trying to purchase tickets to ride The Polar Express even over its final weekend, Nelson is pursuing an additional passenger car for the 2026 Christmas season.
“We have our eye on another passenger car that we are negotiating to get down here. That will allow us another 60 seats per ride. We think that will accommodate the demand in our area for The Polar Express. It just keeps growing,” Nelson said.
The passenger car — a 1950s passenger car — is coming from the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, and the CCRM is trading away an old railway turntable for it.
While Nelson had hoped to get it for The Polar Express this year, they weren’t able to obtain a superload transfer permit from the Washington state Department of Transportation in time, and now must wait until the ground dries out next spring before executing the trade, she explained.
Revenue generated from The Polar Express accounts for about half of the CCRM’s annual budget, and helps pay for railroad track maintenance repairs on the museum’s trains and passenger cars.
Nelson thanked her staff, mostly volunteers, for their time and effort in putting on The Polar Express this year.
“It’s a huge teamwork effort,” she added. “... It’s a pretty long season and it’s a huge commitment from our people.”
Production and direction of this year’s The Polar Express trains was handled by Tina Nixon and Lisa George. Dustin Haight played the train’s conductor, with over 20 other volunteer actors playing The Polar Express’ hero boy, hobo, chefs, hot chocolate serves, dancers, elves and Santa.
The Polar Express isn’t the only train ride the CCRM offers throughout the year, as Nelson is already preparing for the museum’s 2026 season, which kicks off in February with Sweetheart Valentines Dinner train rides.
Other 2026 CCRM events include the Easter Eggspress in April and more, leading up to The Polar Express again next December. The full 2026 CCRM schedule will be announced in January, Nelson added.
The CCRM operates and maintains around 10 miles of train tracks extending into western Lewis County from the museum in Chehalis. CCRM train cars are pulled by a 1940s General Electric Diesel locomotive known as Engine No. 6, which was rebuilt in 1965 and purchased from the Puget Sound Shipyard in Bremerton.
The museum’s long-term goal is still to restore Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade No. 15. The steam engine is a 1916 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado steam engine that the CCRM used to run on the tracks. No. 15 has been sidelined since 2019 when its boiler failed, needing an estimated $1 million in specialized repairs and custom machined parts.
The CCRM does have another steam engine — the 1917 Baldwin 2-8-0 steam engine that was once stored at Fort Borst Park in Centralia following its time in the local logging industry. Known as No. 25, this engine needs even more repairs than No. 15, though the CCRM still hopes to have it back on the tracks one day.
To learn more about the CCRM, visit https://steamtrainride.com/ or follow the museum on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/steamtrainride.
