VALLEY MILLS, Texas — Tammy Jo Whitmire, the President of the Bosque Valley Heritage Society - Valley Mills, came up with a great idea for Christmas this year.
Santa Fe Park, located in the center of Valley Mills, has a perfectly good, donated caboose just sitting there, along with the historical marker train depot, but no one had been inside the railcar since the late 90's.
So, Whitmire decided to take a look inside.
Now, history is meeting the holidays as the old car turns into the Polar Express!
It's all thanks to a donation made decades ago when the caboose was donated from the Temple railyard by John Higgenbotham.
"The depot had already been placed here, it was originally City Park, and with the depot coming to this location it became Santa Fe Park at the request of the Santa Fe Railroad," Donna Veteto, a reporter who writes for the Valley Mills Progress, told 6 News.
The event starts in the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 9, and then after dark, kids get to take turns loading into the decorated caboose to experience the Polar Express.
“The kids will come and get on the train, the conductor will punch their ticket and they will get on the train and the library will read them the story of the Polar Express," Whitmire said, "And Santa Clause and the engineer will be on the train, then they will get off the train and they'll get their bell and then there's a hayride, then there is ornament making in the depot and there's just a whole bunch of stuff to do lots of shopping, just a good time for all!"
Those who participate on Saturday will really be living through history, as this will be a step back in time to what their grandparents and great-grandparents experienced.
"I love to see the history come alive, especially when the Polar Express is going to come alive here in Santa Fe Park and we don't see the caboose anymore," said Veteto as she shared more about the history of the train car. "The caboose is a thing of the past, so we are looking at a significant piece of history in the railroad world. Valley Mills is a town because of the railroad, we originally existed across the Bosque River, right off of FM 56 and it moved to this side of the river because of the Santa Fe Railroad."
When the kids set foot in the old original caboose, complete with a fireplace, places to sit and an old bathroom, it will transport them to a different time in America.
“It was in service, it actually ran and it is listed on a website," Veteto said. "If you look at the serial number that is written on the side of this caboose you can find it and it does state that it is in Valley Mills, Texas."
"Yeah, I didn't think of that, I was just thinking about how much fun it would be for all of these kids to have a good time for Christmas," said Whitmire.
At the time of writing, there are only a few tickets left. To purchase tickets, go to the Facebook page of The Bosque Valley Heritage Society - Valley Mills.
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