Boothbay Railway Village Museum held its first weekend running  “North Pole Express” Dec. 4 and 5 for the first time since before the pandemic. BRV Director of Marketing and Events Lori Reynolds said staff and museum members are excited to be back showing off one of the region’s great historical environments during the holiday season.

“With so many events continuing to be canceled we really wanted to find a way to make the North Pole Express happen for the kids,” Reynolds said. “But finding the balance between safety and old traditions required us to change things up a bit this year.”

Before boarding, children are invited to write a letter to Santa Claus in the campus’s main building, the historic 1912 Freeport Station. Passengers will have their tickets checked and clipped and board the train to Thorndike Station, the North Pole. The train stops, allowing Santa’s elves aboard to collect everyone’s letters to Santa and then the man himself boards the train to greet its passengers.

After disembarking, passengers can roam the lower part of campus to make s’mores by a campfire, go on an elf scavenger hunt and learn about the Village’s several historic buildings.

The Boothbay Town Hall features several regional historic winter displays prepared by BRV Director of Curation and Education Dr. Whitney Lytle and a hot cocoa bar operated by the Boothbay Region High School Project Graduation crew.

The event will continue on Dec. 11, 12, 18 and 19 and the train runs every 45 minutes beginning at 10:45 a.m. Tickets are $21 for ages 3 and up. They are available online only and must be bought in advance. Museum members have a $4 discount per ticket.

“We do still have tickets available at various times over the next two weekends and we invite families to come out for some holiday fun while supporting the museum … It’s a must see!”