(Above)Santa Claus, aka Bryan Marshall, at the Lavender Line, Sussex. © Mark Sheerin
It's 2009 and a steam train chugs through the English countryside. The passengers are predominantly children and a man dressed as Santa is roaming the carriages.
The scene may be surreal. But the Santa Special Steam Train ride is a modern British phenomenon with about 50 railways offering the experience nationwide.
The eccentric tradition is so well established you can book rides through Ticketweb, and many of the weekends in December sell out well in advance, such is the appetite for steam-powered festivity.
Cinders Café at the Lavender Line. © Mark Sheerin
No two Specials are the same. But most include seasonal refreshments and music, a free gift from Santa and a photo opportunity. Plus of course a ride on a steam train.
The man of the hour will sometimes eschew the train itself in favour of a static grotto. This model offers more quality time with Santa, but critics warn it can mean queueing in the cold.
But if one icon wasn’t enough for your little ones, Nene Valley, Peterborough, and Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire both offer the chance to also meet Thomas the Tank Engine.
Thomas lookalike engine at the Lavender Line. © Mark Sheerin
Elsewhere Santa drafts in children's entertainers, nowhere more so than at Peak Rail in Buxton. Here you'll find him supported by clowns, magicians, a balloon modeller and a pair of piano accordion players.
Meanwhile, the daddy of all visits from Father Christmas looks to be at Bure Valley, Norfolk. Here, as you can see, Santa arrives in a steam-powered sleigh for maximum excitement.
On Sunday at the Lavender Line near Uckfield in Sussex, rain did little to dampen the Christmas spirits. The waiting room was fully decorated, a fire roared in the grate and mince pies occupied top spot on the menu. Music from Snow White piped through the café and across the platform, where it mingled with the fumes from the locomotive.
Station Master Rod Peters says that a peak day Santa Special can draw up to 150 kids. "Every railway does it," he explains. "You can’t really afford not to. It’s something I think you are expected to do now, and then you get Christmas attractions everywhere else."
A warm welcome, despite the cold, at the Lavender Line. © Mark Sheerin
Nearby is Santa's grotto, in a period railway carriage. Fairy lights and gold decorate the interior while an elf hovers by a table load of carefully wrapped presents. Santa and his helper are played by husband and wife Bryan and Ann Marshall.
With full white beard and kindly face, Bryan looks the part. Indeed he takes the role so seriously, he stops shaving in the second week of September each year.
An audience with this Santa can last up to fifteen well-scripted minutes. The grotto accommodates up to 20. Although helper Ann does admit: "When it gets very, very busy we have got, dare I say it, a spare Santa."
The journey back in time begins in the waiting room. © Mark Sheerin
Father Christmas goes well with steam trains, according to Bryan. "It's part of the olde worlde atmosphere," he says. "It's a bit different to today's modern fast trains and commercialism and neon and everything. It’s not as commercialised."
Beyond the grotto, a billowing engine shunts a group of revellers along the mile long track running North from the village of Isfield. The brake van is warm and the ceiling flickers with light from the furnace. It is a return trip to nostalgia central.
The slow-moving view from the brake van. © Mark Sheerin
At Rothley Station on the Great Central Railway, where they take matters further, you can find an Edwardian Christmas in full swing. Gas lights and brass bands, rather than steam trains, will take you back in time to 1909.
Or you could try the Bluebell Railway Victorian Christmas Special. In rural Sussex they offer a complimentary festive hamper, drinks, and a chance to visit Santa in his parlour.
As you can see, there are plenty of variations on a theme. These Christmas days out by rail will certainly run and run.
Santa Specials run from late November until December 24. Find your nearest at TrainTravelling.com.
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