Santa on board

A ticket on the Polar Express may be a bit out of reach, but you can give your little ones the next best thing this holiday season with the Whippany Railway Museum’s Santa Claus Special—a fun-filled train ride in holiday-decorated passenger coaches pulled by a historic diesel locomotive. The best part: Old Saint Nick will be on board to greet children and pose for pictures.

A ticket on the Polar Express may be a bit out of reach, but you can give your little ones the next best thing this holiday season with the Whippany Railway Museum’s Santa Claus Special (973-887-8177, www.whippanyrailwaymuseum.net)—a fun-filled train ride in holiday-decorated passenger coaches pulled by a historic diesel locomotive. The best part: Old Saint Nick will be on board to greet children and pose for pictures.

Embarking from the train station at the museum in Whippany on the afternoons of December 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19, the 10-mile, 45-minute ride runs to Roseland and back. Passengers can enjoy views of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the Whippany and Passaic rivers, and each child is given a present from Santa’s helpers.

Morristown resident Ellen Kohn-Perry took the ride last year with her now 6-year-old son, Trystan, who loves trains. “He got very excited when Santa came through the door,” she recalls. “It was a great way to set the mood for the holidays.”

Regular-seating tickets cost $8 for children age 12 and under and $12 for teens and adults; club-car seats are $11 for children, $15 for teens and adults. (Infants under age 1 ride free.) Although you can purchase tickets at the museum ticket office the day of the rides, museum president Steve Hepler strongly suggests reserving seats in advance online via the museum’s website or by mail.