Great movie and may be one of the best Christmas movies ever. It's cool how they did animation over real life actors. And the visuals of the train and trip ,not to mention the North Pole itelf were breathtaking.Anyway,two months ago I had the privilage of riding on or behind the real Polar Express. The real train which the animation was copied over resides here in Michigan. Remember Grand Rapids being mentioned by the little poor boy?. Anyhow the Peir Marquette is the real name of the locomotive,it was built in the 40s and restored in the 80s.They had a 3 hour excursion run from Bay City to Grayling,and back.Soon after, the name was temporaily changed to THE POLAR EXPRESS on the tender behind the engine itself,but normally carries the PM name. It is unfortunate that these trains are somewhat obsolite today because of their maintnance,Deisels are the common use now,but they lack the charm of the Steams Locos. OH by the way the numbers on the PM are 1225,hmmm Dec 25th? We were in the 7th car back from the engine itself. TOO COOL

Pere Marquette Railway Historical Society: http://www.pmhistsoc.org/

Pere Marquette locomotives still in existence (#1225 is the original number for that engine, #1223 served as a parts donor for many years, it has recently been cosmetically restored: http://www.pmhistsoc.org/presloco.shtml

Current owners and operators of PM #1225: http://www.mstrp.com/