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By Gary SledgeThe alarm goes off at 4:30 in the morning. It's dark and cold outside, but Don Royston rolls out of a warm bed without missing a beat. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving and he has an assignment, one that he's handled for the last eight years. He's the guy in the red suit who rides the back of the Santa Train from Shelbiana, Kentucky, across the hills of southwestern Virginia, 110 miles through poor villages and old hill towns to Kingsport, Tennessee. The train leaves promptly at 7:30, and he has to pick up the pace to get there. He dresses on board. Royston looks the part of a jolly elf, with a little extra padding in his fur-fringed suit. The rest of the costume is more inventive. The wig and beard are made of yak hair. Not exactly Christmas canonical, but somehow appropriate for the cold. Santa's floppy hat is sewn into the wig so it won't blow off as the train whips down the track.
The Santa Train tradition started in these hills 64 years ago, during the dark days of World War II. Some families have been coming for four generations to gather at favorite spots along the tracks. The event is stitched into the regional ritual of Christmas.
Though the Clinchfield line is one of the busiest freight routes in the region, CSX no longer runs passenger trains on it. Only this one. Once a year, on the weekend before Thanksgiving. It is their gift to tradition and to the proud people of the coal region. Royston and his 36 Santa's helpers collect, pack and give out gifts and candy -- 15 tons of toys and goodies donated by folks and businesses. Handmade dolls, clothes, pretzels, stuffed animals, basketballs, three-ringed binders and pencils for school.
Royston was no athlete in high school, but he's developed a pretty good throwing arm for tossing toys. Here's the thing, he says: "It's when I miss. And a big kid grabs a toy out of the air intended for some little one just behind him. And that kid hauls it in, takes a look around, turns and hands it to the child who really needs it. That touches me the most. That gives me the joy of being Santa."
Angels come in all shapes, sizes and costumes. And all of them bring little miracles with them, prompting others to pass them along.
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