SANTA TRAIN TO VISIT SIKESTON AREA

SIKESTON -- Some 20,000 traveling, twinkling Christmas lights will come down the tracks into Sikeston with the arrival of the Santa Claus Express Dec. 11.

The Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce will be host to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe's train from 6:10 to 6:50 p.m. Dec. 11 at the railroad tracks off North West Street near Bess Supply.

The train consists of a locomotive, tankcar, boxcar, two flatcars and caboose, all decorated for the Christmas holidays.

Two dozen, 7-foot-tall candy canes will decorate the engine, which features Santa on the front. A tank car, painted like a 40-foot-long candy cane, will be illuminated by 5,000 red and white Christmas lights and protected by 11-foot-tall toy soldiers at each corner.

The train will include a lighted boxcar painted with Christmas bells. There will be a flatcar with Santa's workshop and the stage where Santa and his elves will entertain the crowd while a second flatcar will hold a 16-foot-tall Christmas tree that changes colors and has Santa's sleigh and reindeer.

Pulling up the end of the train will be the caboose capped with snow and decorated with lights and paintings of Raggedy Ann dolls and snowmen. The caboose houses the performers, crew and sound control system as well as serving as the operation center for the train.

Originated in 1993 by the Springfield Division of the railroad's "Health and Safety Team," the Santa Claus Express has proved to be a popular attraction wherever it goes. After the first year and two nights of performances, more communities requested the train.

In 1994 the train made 26 stops averaging 4,000 to 5,000 people at each stop. "All of this with three-fourths of the towns we visited having populations of no more than 5,000 people. At one point, it was reported that there was a line of vehicles following the train from town to town more than two miles long," said Donnie Arnold.

The 1995 season saw the train's schedule expand again with trips to Kansas and Oklahoma as well as through Missouri.

The 1996 tour begins Nov. 30 at Tulsa, Okla., and include stops at towns through Tennessee and on into Alabama. Four nights of Missouri visits are planned with the tour to conclude in Springfield on Dec. 22. Locally the train will stop from 4:30 to 5:10 p.m. Dec. 11 at Lilbourn, from 6:10-6:50 p.m. at Sikeston and 7:55 to 8:35 p.m. at Chaffee.