Media Contact: Janet McGovern, 650.508.6356

Caltrain Holiday Train Collects Nearly 5,000 Toys

The holidays will be made brighter for thousands of needy children thanks to the generosity of people who donated toys during Caltrain’s sixth annual Holiday Train weekend.

In conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program and the Salvation Army, the Caltrain Holiday Train received a total of 4,832 donated toys and books and more than $1,600 in cash donations from visitors to the stations. Since the first holiday train in 2001, more than 30,000 gifts have been generated by the holiday train for needy Bay Area children.

Working at the Port of Redwood City, Caltrain staff and volunteers from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum and other organizations spend weeks decorating the train for the festive weekend.

An estimated 16,000 children and adults came out to see the spectacularly lighted train, which visited nine train stations between San Francisco and Santa Clara during the Dec. 2-3 weekend. Kids got a chance to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, Frosty and other holiday characters and to enjoy music provided by a Salvation Army band and an on-board chorus.

Caltrain thanks all those who donated toys, as well as the sponsors of the 2006 train: Amtrak; Classic Graphics; Comcast; Creative Litho; DRB Partners; the Examiner; Genentech, Inc.; Linear Technology Corp.; Movin 99.7; the Palo Alto Medical Foundation; Peterson Power Systems; the Port of Redwood City; and Shimmick Construction Co., Obayashi Corp. and Balfour Beatty Rail Services, Inc.

12/15/06 - jrm