Caledonian Railway Press Release

With Christmas less than a week away, Santa Claus has left the Caledonian Railway in Brechin and returned to the North Pole ready for his busy day on the 25^th.

The Caledonian Railway has had another successful series of Santa Specials, running 24 trains over the festive period. Just under 3000 passengers - including 1000 children – were visited by Santa on the train between Brechin and Bridge of Dun.

It wasn’t just for children that the Santa Specials brought wide-eyed delight; several Brechiners returning home for Christmas stepped back in time on board the steam train. One couple were returning to Brechin for the first time in over 70 years. Steam trains were still running out of Brechin when they left in 1934!

Everything ran smoothly and to time (A better record than the National Railways!) until the last day. Freezing cold weather on Sunday morning saw diesel freeze, and carriage brakes froze on with the cold. Unfortunately, this resulted in the 1100 train leaving almost an hour late. The railway were disappointed with this hiccup, but volunteers were congratulated by passengers on how quickly the they were able to get things in order.

The Caledonian Railway (Brechin) Ltd would like to thank all those who supported the Santa Specials, with a special thanks to those who waited in the cold for their train on Sunday morning. The steam railway looks forward to passengers returning in 2005.