CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KOAA) — The Royal Gorge Route Railroad's Santa Express is marking its 20th anniversary this year, bringing holiday magic to Cañon City with more than 100,000 lights illuminating the journey through the Royal Gorge.
"People come from all over the world to see it," said Dana Robinson with the Royal Gorge Route Railroad. "We've put in months of preparation for this."
The festive train ride takes passengers of all ages through Cañon City's Royal Gorge, with a special stop at the "North Pole" where children can spend time with Santa. Young passengers like Aksel Jones from Fountain shared their Christmas wishes during the journey.
"A dirt bike and some Broncos stuff," said Jones when asked what he wanted from Santa this year.
The Santa Express attracts visitors from across the country and beyond. Alexander Ferre and Davis Vasquez traveled from Puerto Rico to experience the holiday tradition.
"It's different from Puerto Rico. It snows and it's very cold but beautiful," they said.
The holiday attraction helps Cañon City maintain its tourism appeal during the winter months when some summer activities aren't available.
"I just had a couple the other day from Louisiana," said Cheryl Owens, owner of Cheryl's Book Nook. "There's no water rafting. No river rafting because it's too low and too cold. But there's a lot of other things to do around here."
The railroad doubled the total number of lights on the Santa Express from last year, creating a spectacular display of more than 100,000 lights that illuminate the scenic journey through the gorge.
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Officials told us they believe these fires were caused by downed power lines. The Scripps News Group is working to gather more information and will have a crew reporting the latest updates.
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