The Tiny Surprise at the National Christmas Tree

Along with Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and the Avett Brothers, there was another special guest at last week’s National Christmas Tree Lighting. Amtrak!

That’s right, one of our model trains is circling the National Christmas Tree just south of the White House. Pretty cool, huh?

In fact, the Amtrak model train is an exact replica of the  trains that operate in and out of Washington, D.C., along our Northeast Corridor, which stretches all the way to Boston. That means you can actually travel to see the National Christmas Tree in President’s Park and ride on the huge-scale version of the train you see under the tree!

The display includes two GE Genesis P42 diesel locomotives, which power most of our equipment throughout our 500-destination system, plus single-level Amfleet passenger cars and a cafe car. In their slightly larger versions, those are the cars that you ride in when you’re traveling short distances in coach class.

If you’re feeling inspired and want to bring a little bit of America’s Railroad to your own holiday decorations, you can buy Amtrak merchandise here.

For a truly meta experience, we recommend making a day trip to the nation’s capital. Ride one of our Northeast Regional or Carolinian trains then go see a super small version under the National Christmas Tree. We hear the hot hot chocolate (yea we got it!) on board isn’t bad either!

Where you going by train this holiday season? Tell us in the comments section below!

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