About 150 CSX employees in Jacksonville wrapped and packed thousands of toys, winter accessories and other gifts to be delivered to Appalachian families during the running of the company’s 82nd annual Santa Train.
On Nov. 23 the Santa Train will deliver about 15 tons of free gifts on a 13-stop, 110-mile journey through Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
“The CSX Santa Train is a cherished and longstanding tradition and a significant part of CSX history,” President and CEO Joe Hinrichs said. A “central” component of the Jacksonville-based company’s One CSX initiative to build a collaborative culture, he said, is “strengthening the communities in which we serve.”
About 150 Jacksonville CSX employees took part in a “packing party” for the company’s 82nd annual CSX Santa Train, which delivers gifts to Appalachian families in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
The Santa Train is a partnership with Appalachian Power, Food City, Kingsport Chamber of Commerce and Soles4Souls.
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The company’s recently unveiled 20th heritage locomotive, the Clinchfield No. 1902, will lead the train. Clinchfield Railroad was originally chartered to serve coal mining communities across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee and was the original home of the “Santa Claus Special” in 1943, according to CSX.
The Santa Train is the “culmination of literally 12 months of effort by CSX employees and community members that are coming together to provide some joy and cheer to so many people in Appalachia,” said Bryan Tucker, vice president of corporate communications.
Joe Hinrichs, right, CSX president and CEO, and Bryan Tucker, vice president of corporate communications, stack boxes at the recent packing party for the Jacksonville-based company’s 82nd annual CSX Santa Train that delivers gifts to Appalachian families.
In Jacksonville, the employee “packing party” took place Nov. 8 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center with Hinrichs and other CSX executives taking part. The gifts were packed into backpacks to be handed out along the Santa Train route.
At a southwest Virginia stop of the 2023 Santa Train, resident Patsy Phillips said the community “certainly appreciated the effort and the time … getting this together.”
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“I’m 69 and I’m still excited,” she said in a company video. “This is a much-loved event.”
At a Jacksonville packing party for the CSX Santa Train, employee Mario Zeni helps get gift-filled backpacks ready for the CSX Santa Train. On the train’s 110-mile route, another bearded gentleman, Santa Claus, will help deliver the backpacks to Appalachian families.
The CSX Transportation network has about 20,000 route miles of track in 26 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Nearly two-thirds of Americans live within CSX’s service territory, according to the company.
bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: CSX employees in Jacksonville pack up 15 tons of gifts for Santa Train
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