Equipped with a pink umbrella, pink hat and pink rain boots, 5-year-old Alanna Vizcaino smiled happily.
The little girl and her family waited an hour and a half in the pouring rain to be the first in line to meet Santa Claus after he came off of a steam locomotive.
“We’ve been coming for many years, but this year we wanted to be the first in line,” Alanna’s grandmother, Joanne Emel, said.
Usually all of Emel’s seven grandchildren come out to the 10th annual Santa Steam Train event at the Vancouver Depot Amtrak Station, but the unrelenting rain Saturday kept all but Alanna and her little sister at home.
Alanna and her parents have come every year to take a portrait with Santa.
“Last year, she asked Santa for a little sister,” Alanna’s mother Jody Wilushewski said. “His face was priceless. He was just like, ‘I don’t think I can help you with that.’ “
But joining the family this year was Alanna’s 3-week-old little sister, Vanessa, who wore a Seahawks jersey — as did the rest of her family.
This year, Alanna hopes to have the same luck with “a remote control dog that says ‘woof woof.’ “
Emel said that even though it was a smaller group on Saturday, she said she was happy to put up with the rain.
“It’s worth the wait for the look on her face,” she said. The event, she added, “just makes it Christmas.”
By about 11 a.m., the line of attendees wrapped around the parking area. As the train horn bellowed loudly, the crowd craned their necks to see steam billowing from the SP&S 700 locomotive as it rolled to a stop. Little voices screamed with delight as Santa waved and hopped down out of the cab.
“Trains, kids and Santa just go together,” BNSF Railway spokesman Gus Melonas said. “It brings reality to the spirit, and that’s exciting for all of us.”
The Santa Steam Train, Melonas said, started as a holiday party for railroad employees when the company brought in a steam engine for the festivities.
Hundreds of people from the public lined up to see the train come in, Melonas said. That year, they opened the event up to the onlookers and have made it a public event ever since. The event has gotten bigger every year, with attendance swelling to more than 2,000 last year.
Though rain soaked this year’s event, about 1,325 people braved the elements to catch a glimpse of the train and to sit on Santa’s lap.
Chris DeLargy, superintendent of operations for BNSF, said that the event has become a gift to the community. The free event encourages toy donations for Toys for Tots.
“We continue to try to be good stewards to the community,” he said.
“This is a small event to add to that.”
After they visit with Santa and pose for a photo, each child is given a wooden train whistle, a coloring book and some candy. The railroad company also served hot dogs, hamburgers, cake and other treats.
Seven-year-old Johnathan Mahlmeister blew his wooden train whistle loudly as he waited in line for Santa. He said that he’s a huge fan of trains — he’s loved Thomas the Tank Engine since he was born and is asking for a toy steam train for Christmas. It may be hard to top seeing the steam train on Saturday, though.
“It was amazing,” he said. “It was my first time seeing one. I thought I’d never see one.”
