North Pole Express chugs into town

Christmas is a magical time at the Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation club where the season is celebrated with twinkling lights, decorated trees and rides on a quarter-scale train. The North Pole Express — a Findlay tradition that each year attracts nearly 8,000 visitors — opens Friday. "It gets bigger every year," said Jim Gabriel, a member of the board of directors. Hours are 5:30-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5:30-8:30 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 2. The display will be closed Christmas Eve but open on Christmas Day. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children. Dating back more than 20 years, the special holiday display will feature about 200 decorated trees, painted wooden figures and thousands of lights. The club site at 12505 County Road 99 has been named one of 43 stops on the 2021 Ohio Holiday Lights Trail, a compilation of the state's most impressive light displays curated by TourismOhio, the state's tourism division. Upon arrival, visitors will stop in the gift shop to purchase their tickets; there will be no presale tickets sold. The gift shop also houses a model train display that will be decorated for the holidays. The stars of the show are the two quarter-scale engines: Engine 901, a coal-burning, steam-powered locomotive from the Israelite House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan; and the Riverside Train that ran at Riverside Park. Both are historical trains, said Gabriel. The House of David religious colony was founded in 1903. Members built the premiere pre-Disney amusement park in mid-America, where miniature trains transported visitors to and from the park. Engine 901 was one of three engines built by House of David craftsmen in the late 1940s, and it was used until the 1970s when the park closed. The three engines spent the next two decades in storage. Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation (NWORRP) then made arrangements to purchase the engine, which was moved to Findlay in 2001. Meanwhile, the Riverside Train is believed to have been originally built in Toledo in the late 1930s. The train began operation at the Walbridge Park/Toledo Zoo, where it ran until 1950s. It was brought to Findlay in 1951 and renamed the "City of Findlay." The train operated at Riverside Park until 1977, when it was placed in storage. Donated to the Hancock Historical Museum in 1990, the train remained in storage until 1997 when a group of volunteers began to restore it. It was renamed the Riverside Train in honor of its tenure at the park and resumed operations in 1998 in a lot adjacent to the Little Red School House. In the summer of 2015, the train moved to its current location where it is operated by NWORRP volunteers. Gabriel said the volunteers who rebuilt the train are the core of those who started NWORRP. The quarter-mile ride is two laps around the park, which takes 10 to 12 minutes. Visitors should dress for the weather. There are lighted decorations on either side of the tracks, including a Christmas village, snowman family, a waving Santa and a 22-foot tree. After the ride, visitors are invited into the train barn where a forest of decorated Christmas trees and a number of blow-up decorations are located. As a part of the fun, an elf scavenger hunt will be held. Gabriel said about 17 toy elves will be hidden in the trees. Visitors are invited to find them all, then fill out a form and deposit it in Santa's mailbox. A weekly drawing will be held for a family pass. At the end of the season, the grand prize "golden ticket" drawing will be held. Top prize is a family pass to ride the trains throughout 2022. Popcorn, hot chocolate, cotton candy and other snacks will also be available. A visit typically takes about about an hour, said Gabriel. "And we're hoping we can have Santa Claus come down a couple of days. He won't be here all the time, but we're hoping he'll drop in a couple of times and visit with us and any of our patrons that come," he said. The display, which is different each year, attracts visitors from across Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. Decorating started in October. "It's a lot of work, but we enjoy it. We wouldn't do it if we didn't," said Gabriel. Established in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the NWORRP relies on volunteers, proceeds from train operations and special programs, and donations from rail fans to operate, maintain and improve the museum and its offerings. Wolf: 419-427-8419