Polar Express takes passengers back to Santa's magic

Standing in the cold, we heard the train long before we saw it. In the late afternoon, as the sun dipped behind the San Juan Mountains in Durango, Colo., the clicketyclack of the train echoed.

Great puffs of bluish-gray steam rose to the sky as the train chugged toward the station. Then the whistle wailed as the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad's Polar Express arrived.

Waiting eagerly on the station platform were kids and adults in flannel pajamas, paying homage to "The Polar Express" film.

"All aboard!" the bespectacled conductor shouted to the crowd. "All aboard for the Polar Express!"

We stepped aboard for a magical hourlong journey from Durango to the "North Pole," based on Chris Van Allsburg's popular children's book "The Polar Express" and the subsequent movie starring Tom Hanks.

The story begins to come to life as the coal-fired, steam-operated vintage train pulls away from the Durango station. Train "chefs" pass out steaming cups of hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.

The inside of the train is warm and toasty and adorned with holly and white lights as it winds through the Rockies, snow and moonlight brightening the mountainsides, headed for the "North Pole."

Along the way, a narrator reads "The Polar Express," a story about a pajama-clad boy who comes to believe in Santa Claus through a magic train.

To keep with the theme of the book, both children and their parents are encouraged to wear their jammies and bedroom slippers aboard the train.

Once the Polar Express arrives at the North Pole, Santa and his elves board the train and, faithful to the tradition of the book, they give each child (and some grown-ups) a sleigh bell.

On the return trip, everyone joyously sings Christmas carols as Santa roams from car to car.

The Polar Express is heartwarming. By the end of the ride, I found myself believing in Santa Claus and in all that Christmas is and should be.

The Polar Express runs through Dec. 28. But if your plans don't take you to Durango for the Polar Express, not to worry.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, in operation since 1881, offers year-round journeys throughout this scenic corner of the Rockies, including summer excursions to Silverton, fall-foliage weekends, the Cascade Canyon Winter Train and other holiday-themed rides.