The Golden Trident

Photos courtesy of the Colorado Railroad Museum Collection

By Olly Johnson

With the holiday season in full swing, families are coming together to enjoy their favorite festive movies. “Elf,” “A Christmas Story,” “Diehard,” “Home Alone.” Even more Christmas classics are what people from all over the world bond over this time of year, but one movie stands out from the crowd: “The Polar Express.” 

The 1985 book, written by Chris Van Allsburg, turned into an exponentially more well-known 2004 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. This is not only because 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the film’s release, but because it has the most recognizable icon from any singular Christmas movie, the Polar Express itself. Sure, this doesn’t make it the best or even the most popular Christmas movie, but the train is such a well-known object that children commonly wish to ride this North Pole-bound train. This dream is a reality thanks to the Colorado Railroad Museum and their “The Polar Express” experience.

This type of event takes a massive amount of effort to put together, almost the entire year. On the subject, Production Manager Karalyn “Star” Pytel states that “this is a unique project, for me this is very outside the box of typical entertainment design,” comparing the experience to being more of a Disneyland attraction than a theater production. This is because the Colorado Railroad Museum is, in fact, a train museum and not a stage in any sense of the word. This creates the challenge of performing within the confines of a train. 

This is doubly so since the Polar Express train itself is on a track that can only go around in a circle, which complicates having dedicated scenes along the track. To elaborate, the audience must not see the North Pole on the first loop, because you don’t arrive at the place until the fourth loop. This is further complicated by the fact that “The Polar Express” movie is owned by Warner Bros. and the rail show is put together by Rail Events. This means the Colorado Railroad Museum staff had to follow a “production bible” when making this. Pytel describes this bible as “…sort of like a rubric in school. They give us certain requirements, and we have to follow all of them by the time they come and grade us, which is called an audit. And there are a lot of requirements. For example, once the Polar Express reaches the North Pole, the North Pole must have a clock tower at 11:55, and when the train leaves the North Pole, the song “Rockin’ on Top of the World” by Steven Tyler has to play.”

So, with all of these stipulations, it is wonderful to see how spectacular this experience is. Pytel credits their success to two things, the details and the performers. She states that the details make the experience what it is, and that sentiment shows. Every little part of the experience, from the queue to the train to the places around the tracks, everything is full of detailed Christmas decor and charm. The sets where the actors perform not only work around being in a train lot but take advantage of it. 

The North Pole is built off of a caboose car, doubling as both a set to show to the audience and a dressing room for the actors. The visit with Santa takes place within a two-section-long train, forming what they refer to as the “Santa Line.” The actors add to this by being at their A-game on all fronts. Conductor Ginner, the main trio of children, and the rest of the elves and chefs and such are all full of energy and passion. This is notable because a few of the actors are interns and even students at Golden High School. It’s evident how much work goes into this event just by looking at it.

However, Pytel’s goal with this entire event is to create memories. 

“The best part about doing what I do is seeing all these families make memories. The families all dressed in matching pajamas, the children wishing for gifts on Santa’s lap, it’s all amazing.” 

The “Polar Express” movie’s best aspect is its magic, and the Colorado Railroad Museum replicated it wonderfully. Seeing the train’s shadow go over the hill, as the smoke blows out. The lights from the train cars reflect off the snow as the train pulls into the station. Pytel even remarked that the Polar Express’ arrival is what most of the ticket price goes to. The entire experience can be described as dream-like and almost mythical, and Pytel and the rest of her crew can rest assured that this will create memories for life.