Ho, Ho, Ho!

For many years now operators of both preserved railways and main line steam tours have known that it is a good idea to take advantage of Santa Claus!
Although preserved lines were the first to run Santa Trains main line steam tour operators didn't take long to catch on to the idea.
These trains were a feature of the main line steam scene in the 80's and in 1983 two trains ran over the Settle - Carlisle line just after Christmas. Motive power was my favourite LMS Black 5 4-6-0, 5305.
The first of these ran on with steam haulage from Hellifield to Carlisle in dismal and very wet conditions but on the following day the weather was far better when 5305 returned south.
We had an early afternoon break of about an hour at Appleby and even had a couple of runs past with Santa on the footplate! Then, with all the passengers safely back on board and the Appleby Silver Band playing some suitably festive music 5305 departed for Hellifield.
Don't worry! That isn't the sound of the band being executed. Appleby station staff always seemed to be able to find a good supply of detonators for special occasions!

In my opinion the best main line Santa Trains were those run by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society around the Edinburgh Suburban Line and I always made a point of visiting Edinburgh and spending at least one day travelling round and round the 'Sub'. As I recall, 15 circuits in a weekend was the record including a 'staff only' one at the end of the day!
These trains first ran in December 1984 when the SRPS ran a railtour from Falkirk to celebrate the Centenary of the Suburban line. These included a couple of extra circuits as Santa Trains for passengers joining at Edinburgh.
More often than not there would be a piper in attendance at Waverley to provide a suitable send off. As you can hear in this recording made as the NBR Class C 0-6-0 673 'Maude' departs from Waverley for the run back to Falkirk, the piper stayed around to see us off.

'Maude' was always a favourite of mine especially on runs round the steeply graded 'Sub' but other locos took a hand in working these trains.
In 1988 the LNER K1 2-6-0 2005 had spent the summer working trains between Fort William and Mallaig and when it returned from there it remained in Scotland to take part in working Santa Trains around the Edinburgh Suburban line for the SRPS.
I visited Edinburgh over the weekend of 10/11th December and but only managed to travel round the 'Sub' 12 times!
Unlike the previous three years the trains in 1988 travelled round the 'Sub' in an anticlockwise direction. This was the more interesting direction as it included the steep gradients to Morningside Road and from Portobello back into Waverley.
In this recording 2005 is heard soon after passing Haymarket West Jc. on the climb to Morningside Road.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway was one of the first preserved lines to operate Santa Trains, indeed, I seem to recall travelling on what proved to be an epic journey in 1968 behind the LMS 'Crab' 2700 which had sever difficulties with adhesion and took an inordinate amount of time to reach Oxenhope with the first train!
There were no such difficulties in 1988 and on 17th December the Santa Trains were powered by visiting GWR 2-6-2T 6106 double heading with the railway's own BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0 75078.
In this recording the pair are heard at the head of 6 coaches in the valley between Haworth and Oxenhope.
Inaudible at the rear of the train was Class 25 diesel D5209 which worked the train down the hill to Keighley while the steam engines did all the work back uphill to Oxenhope.

In addition to Santa trains the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway have for many years run a service of Mince Pie Specials during the week after Christmas and, for many years I have tried to make a point of going over for a ride on the last day of the year.
On New Years Eve in 1993 BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 78022 was in charge of these trains and, after having had one round trip behind the loco I was all ready to set off for home and prepare for the New Year's Eve festivities but before I could get away I was invited for a ride on the footplate. You will be un-surprised to hear that I decided to stay for another round trip!
This recording was made departing from Oakworth. What a fine way to end the year!

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway have been running Santa Trains on their own line for many years but in 2003 tried a new venture by running trains from Grosmont to Middlesborough on 6th December, the first train being intended for those wanting to go Christmas shopping and calling at a number of station in the Esk Valley, the return trip from Middlesborough being for those wishing to have a pre-Christmas meeting with Santa!
Motive power for these trains was the BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T 80135 which is heard with the second train from Grosmont departing from Glaisdale and climbing on a gradient of 1 in 102 towards the next stop at Castleton Moor.

A list of forthcoming steam hauled trips on the main line will be found on David Randles' excellent web site. The SRPS no longer run Santa Trains around the 'Sub' but do run trains on their own line at Bo'ness, details here. Details of Santa, Mince Pie and other trains on the Keighley & Worth Valley and the North Yorkshire Moors Railways will be found on their web sites.