All aboard Fox River Trolley Museum's Polar Express

The North Pole might be a half a world away for most Americans, but dozens of lucky families got the chance to travel to Santa's stamping grounds in the blink of an eye.

The Fox River Trolley Museum's Polar Express trains made their final runs of the season Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

The trips are based on Chris Van Allsberg's 1986 book, which describes a young boy's magical Christmas Eve train ride to and from the North Pole.

The museum trains' passengers boarded at the "South Pole" at John Deurr Forest Preserve's Blackhawk station, and traveled up to the "North Pole" to the museum on Route 31.

Along the way, local volunteers led passengers in Christmas carols and distributed hot Cocoa and cookies.

Event coordinator Melissa Phillips said this was the first year the trains were designated as official "Polar Express" trains by Warner Brothers.

"There's a lot of new things this year. We're featuring decorative lights aboard the train now, and the ride is very musical," she said.

Like the main character in Allsberg's book, children aboard the train also received a silver bell as proof of their belief in Santa.

Almost all of the museum's 26 Polar Express runs have been sold out, Phillips said.

Saturday afternoon, several members of Buffalo Grove Cub Scout Pack 140 were aboard the 2:55 p.m. express train.

Stopped, momentarily at the Trolley Museum, Tony Stencel of Long Grove and son Alex, 9, and daughter Julia, 5, clapped and sang along to several carols. A few verses into "Santa Claus is coming to town," the man himself made an appearance.

"There's Santa! Santa!" riders shouted as St. Nick popped his head into the back of the train car.

Among those mesmerized were Holly Carson's sons Luke, 2, and Jack, 5,

"If he's sitting still, you know this is pretty good," Carson laughed, pointing at Luke.