Since 1943 the official arrival of the Christmas season to Dickenson County has been marked by the shrill scream of a train whistle as the "Santa Special" makes it way through the county stopping at designated places for Santa to throw out candy, gifts and other goodies to those waiting trackside.

It all started as a goodwill gesture to rural residents in eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia, a way of thanking them for shopping in Kingsport, Tennessee.

The Merchant's Bureau of Kingsport, (which later became the Greater Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce), and the Clinchfield Railroad put their collective heads together and came up with an idea which, at the time, they probably didn't realize was going to become nationally known.

The late Charles Kuralt did a CBS-TV "On the Road" segment aboard the Santa Train some years back and worldwide attention has escalated since then.

Every Saturday before Thanksgiving the Santa Special begins its journey at 7:30 a.m. in Shelby, Kentucky and ends its trek in Kingsport, Tennessee, just in time for Santa to make his way off the train and onto a float for the annual Kingsport Christmas Parade.

The train has scheduled stops at Elkhorn, Fremont, Dante, St. Paul, Dungannon, Speers Ferry, Waycross and Kingsport, but it often stops at other spots along the track where crowds of people are gathered anxiously trying to catch a glimpse of Old Saint Nick, who rides on the back of the train.

The arrival of the first Santa Train through the area must have been quite an event. The country was at war. Coal mining was the chief industry here, and workers were being paid low wages in script instead of currency. Therefore they were forced to shop only at company owned businesses which accepted the script. As a result the miner's periodically went on strikes to express their displeasure with this system.

After the war, the high coal production continued and the bottom dropped out of the market. Times were hard for most families of the area during those years. So the first Santa Trains provided the only Christmas presents some children received. But as the years went on and the economy improved the Santa Train continued to makes its annual trek and the running of the train became a treasured tradition in the hearts of many.

Singer Patty Loveless has a song out titled, "The Santa Train" which is about the running of the train that Loveless grew up seeing as a child in Kentucky. Loveless rode on the train a couple years ago thrilling audiences at stops along the route by getting off the train and singing her song.

Today its not unusual to see grandparents out by the train tracks with their grandchildren, continuing a tradition they have participated in for most of their lives, and young mothers holding infants, continuing the tradition their parents started when they themselves were children. You also see many tourists these days along the route, cameras in hand, capturing a treasured moment in our history as Santa yells a cheery, "Ho Ho Ho" as the train disappears on down the track.

For more information about the Santa Train and the schedule, please visit the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce Website at: http://www.kingsportchamber.org/portal/santaframe.htm