Christmas Spirit Picks Up Steam in Fillmore

The holiday season chugged into high gear Saturday when hundreds boarded the “Santa Claus Special” in Fillmore for a bumpy rail ride through the Santa Clara River Valley to a Christmas tree farm in Santa Paula.

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Mr. Claus, who was one of the last to board the vintage train, told fans that the tepid fall weather had knocked his sleigh out of commission.

“It’s not cold enough,” said Douglas Kirk, the bespectacled Santa from Fillmore. “I thought we’d use the rail system today.”

But the climate proved frosty enough for Santa to use his sleigh in Oxnard, where he rolled past more than a thousand spectators in the city’s Downtown Holiday Parade. Although Father Christmas was perhaps the parade’s biggest draw, the Mariachi Juvenil Azteca de Camarillo dance troupe drew loud applause for its punchy rendition of “Feliz Navidad.”

In Fillmore, the chance to ride through citrus groves and horse farms with the North Pole’s first couple gave many of the train’s younger passengers an opportunity to ask some lingering questions.

“Why do you always go ‘Ho Ho Ho?’ ” said Alex Ulrich, 3, of Thousand Oaks as the Clauses passed through the train’s parlor car handing out candy canes. “How are your elves doing?”

But adults, not just kids, were also stricken with Santa fever. And many hooted when the potbellied-man in the red suit swaggered past while the train pitched back and forth like a ship.

“As long as you believe, you always get a present from him,” said Fillmore resident Adrian Carter, who said he had one gift idea on the brain. “Another 10 years with my beautiful wife.”

With bands belting out Christmas melodies and spectators wearing Santa hats and red and green sweat shirts, downtown Oxnard also appeared doused with holiday cheer.

“Everybody seems to be in the spirit of Christmas,” said Janis Flippen, a spokeswoman for the Greater Oxnard and Harbors Tourism Bureau.

Operated by the Fillmore & Western Railway, a private company that runs tourist trains and frequently leases its rail cars as movie props, the Santa Claus special is set to rumble through the valley on weekends through Dec. 17. Each two-hour round trip includes a 45-minute layover at the Santa Paula Christmas tree farm, where passengers can saw down their own trees and load them onto a flatcar for the return trip.

When the train made its stop Saturday, more than two dozen passengers foraged through the rows of thickly scented pine trees on their quest for that perfect Tannenbaum .

“We’re looking for a big, tall one,” said Richard Winmill, a Fillmore resident and insurance executive who was leading the family expedition with a hacksaw. “We have a big open house.”

Winmill’s 13-year-old son, Mike, trotted ahead to check the options, but said he was set on a Christmas tree with a classic triangular look. “I want one that’s the right shape but not too puffy,” Mike said.

The Winmills found a 12-footer with all the right stuff on the edge of the farm near a citrus grove.

“Last year we had to put the angel on top from the loft upstairs,” said Madeline Winmill, commenting on her family’s habit of falling in love with monster-sized trees.

As they re-boarded the train, passengers squeezed onto plush, velvet bench seats and crowded around tables in parlor cars to while away the last 40 minutes or so of the trip. A Cub Scout troop from the Upper Ojai defied gravity by managing to stand and sing a steady stream of Christmas carols while the train rocked.

“It’s hard sort of because you’re bouncing all around,” said 8-year-old caroler Bryce Schwermer. “Your voice gets all wobbly.”

Despite the ride’s effect on vocal cords, many passengers said they enjoyed the chance to ditch their cars and spend a relaxed two hours aboard the more old-fashioned transportation.

“It seems about the same to me,” said 73-year-old Dick Dallam of Rancho Palos Verdes, comparing the experience to his Army days, when he rode trains across the United States. “Except this time, we don’t have a bunch of GIs.”

FYI

The Santa Claus Special will run today and Dec. 9, 10, 16 and 17. Trains leave the station in downtown Fillmore at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Regular fare is $14 for adults and $8 for those ages 4 through 12. Children under 4 ride free with an adult. For more info, call 524-2546.