Steam rises around you. A giant turntable revolves. Excitement sim­mers in your chest.

It might sound like you’re danc­ing the night away at a trendy club, but the turntable before you (used for posi­tion­ing loco­mo­tives) isn’t manned by a DJ, and here, steam cre­ates power not ambiance.

Our fam­ily loves trav­el­ing by train. We often take the sub­ur­ban Metra trains into Chicago when we visit muse­ums or go sight­see­ing with out of town vis­i­tors. When it comes to trav­el­ing greater dis­tances for extended vaca­tions via Amtrak, it’s been more of a con­tentious issue. The cost and time fac­tors often leave us lit­tle choice but to travel by car, for con­ve­nience, or by plane, for the sake of time.

When the snow begins to fall, Colorado’s Royal Gorge Route Railroad mag­i­cally becomes The Santa Express, a metic­u­lously restored series of mid-century loco­mo­tives adorned in hol­i­day décor and brim­ming with hol­i­day spirit while one very spe­cial guest is on board: Santa Claus.