Long awaited return set for valley's own Polar Express

Tickets are now on sale for the Fox River Trolley Museum's 2009 Polar Express.

Chris Van Allsberg's best-selling and beloved book "Polar Express" will come alive aboard the museum's sleek all-reserved, extra-fare trains, which will run Fridays and Saturdays in December.

Plenty of cookies and hot cocoa will be available and be ready to sing your favorite Christmas carols.

Tickets sell fast. The museum has received inquiries about this year's Polar Express trips since April, and typically tickets sell out in early- to mid-October. Fares are $15 for all ages; passes for other museum operations will not be honored, and no tickets will be sold on the day.

Trains will run at 4, 5:05, 6:10 and 7:15 p.m. Saturdays, Dec. 5, 12 and 19 and Sundays, Dec. 6 and 20. All Polar Express trains board at Blackhawk station in the Jon Duerr Forest Preserve, just off Route 31 in St. Charles Township, for the ride north to meet Santa.

Reserve your spot at foxtrolley.org/reservations.html.

While you're there, reserve your seats for the museum's annual fall spook-tacular, the Halloween Hiawatha (Ghost Story Train).

This year's trains operate Saturdays and Sundays, Oct. 17-18, 24-25. The reserved-seating, after-hours Halloween Hiawathas entertain children and their parents.

Those who dare can experience a campfire along the shores of the Fox River with ghoulish ghost stories, s'mores and more. Trains leave each evening at 4:30, 5:45 and 7 p.m. Fares for this special train are $10 for all ages.

No tickets will be sold the nights of the event, and no passes will be honored.

For more information, or to rent a train, call (847) 697-4676.