The Pennsylvania Railroad’s “Christmas Tree Special”

The Christmas Tree Special was a festive American tradition in the late 19th century and set the stage for our enduring love affair between trains and Christmas. It’s a relatively obscure bit of history now, but it may have had a huge impact on why Americans have long associated trains with Christmas decorations. 

Christmas trains can be traced back to the mid-19th century when railways were expanding across Europe and North America. Prominent railroad companies recognized the potential for holiday-themed excursions as a way to boost passenger traffic during the slower winter months.

One of the earliest examples was the Christmas Tree Special operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1880s, where families would board elaborately decorated trains to travel to rural areas to select and cut their own Christmas trees. It must have been quite a vibe: Victorian-era families dressed in their finest winter clothes, boarding trains covered with garlands and wreaths to make lifelong memories with their kids.

The Christmas Tree Special was an event, and part of an early tradition of trains acting as a novelty ride instead of practical transportation. Trains became synonymous with holiday cheer and brought communities together in the spirit of Christmas. In an era before automobiles were common and when many people in cities had no easy access to the countryside, these excursions offered families the opportunity to personally select their holiday centerpiece from forests and tree farms outside urban areas.

To understand the significance of the Christmas Tree Special, we must first appreciate the powerhouse railroad that operated it. The Pennsylvania Railroad, often referred to simply as the “Pennsy,” traces its roots back to 1846 when the Pennsylvania State Legislature granted a charter for the construction of a railroad line that would connect Harrisburg to Pittsburgh.

By the late 19th century, the PRR had established itself as a major player in the industry, connecting major cities and regions from the East Coast to the Midwest. The company was known for its commitment to safety and its reliability service. 

The “Pennsylvania-type” locomotive, at its debut, was a powerful and efficient steam engine that set new standards for speed and reliability. These technological advances meant that special holiday excursions could run safely and efficiently even during the challenging winter months.

By the 1880s, the Pennsylvania Railroad was perfectly positioned to launch a novelty passenger experience like the Christmas Tree Special, having already developed a reputation for customer service.

In the 1880s, the tradition of decorating Christmas trees was still relatively new to American culture, having been popularized by German immigrants and, notably, by illustrations showing the British Royal Family’s decorated trees in the 1840s and 1850s. By the 1880s, Christmas trees were becoming an essential part of American Christmas celebrations, but obtaining one wasn’t as simple as visiting a corner lot. The market had not yet developed for specialized nurseries (or of course artificial trees) like we rely on today.

For urban families living in cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and New York, fresh evergreens weren’t easy to come by. The Christmas Tree Special solved this problem while simultaneously creating a memorable family tradition. Families would spend the day in the countryside, breathing fresh air and sometimes cutting down their own perfect tree for the season.

It can also be argued that these excursions served an economic purpose by connecting rural tree farmers with urban customers and providing additional income to farming communities during the winter months when agricultural work was limited. The Pennsylvania Railroad, ever the savvy business, created a win-win situation. They managed to boost winter ridership while providing a valued service to communities on both ends of the line.

The early 20th century marked the golden age of Christmas trains. It eventually became fairly common for railroads to invest in extravagant decorations and themed events. The success of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Christmas Tree Special inspired other railways to create their own holiday offerings. Special Christmas-themed passenger services, complete with carolers, hot cocoa, and visits from Saint Nicholas himself, became increasingly popular.

The Pennsylvania Railroad’s influence became instrumental in the Christmas tree industry itself, transporting millions of trees from growing regions to urban markets across the Northeast and Midwest. Train depots were often used as temporary Christmas tree markets each December. 

We forget some of the sensory experiences from that era. It’s hard to conceptualize how far removed we are from that kind of event. Now, we order most things online, and before that, we were grabbing our holiday gifts in malls. Even that was sanitary compared to the distinctive scent of fresh pine and coal smoke, and the sounds of steam engines. 

There’s something inherently magical about trains during the holidays. Maybe it’s just nostalgia for when train travel was the height of elegance and adventure (and even though that was before my time, I see the appeal). 

Trains represent connection, but in an analog way. We’re used to connecting via the internet now, and through TVs since before I was born. But in the 19th century, there was some magic to the fact that trains linked distant places and brought families together for the holidays. 

From a historical perspective, trains and Christmas grew up together in American culture. The expansion of railroads in the mid-19th century coincided with the popularization of Christmas as a family-centered holiday. Trains made it possible for separated families to reunite for the holidays, for gifts to be shipped across the country, and for Christmas traditions like decorated trees to spread from region to region.

As we decorate our homes each December, many of us will place a toy train beneath our Christmas tree, but a lot of us barely have an inkling of why that connection existed in the first place. 

But now you know; it’s a legacy that stretches back to pioneering families who boarded the Christmas Tree Special.

Speaking of keeping traditions alive, you can add a piece of railroad holiday history to your own Christmas tree this year. Shop.trains.com offers an exceptional collection of train-themed Christmas ornaments that honor the legacy of the Christmas Tree Special and the golden age of rail.