From November 12 through December 22, the Grand Canyon Railway stages a charming and hugely popular nightly reenactment of the dreamlike journey described in Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express, one of the loveliest children’s books of the last 20 years. Late one Christmas Eve a boy who is beginning to doubt the existence of Santa Claus is ushered aboard a train filled with other pajama-clad children. They sing carols, sip cocoa "thick and rich as melted chocolate bars," and speed through the dark to a vast and brightly lit North Pole. There, a sage old Santa gives our hero a bell—a symbol of faith and belief that he loses, and then receives wrapped on Christmas morning.

The cocoa on board this nonfictional Polar Express does not resemble melted chocolate bars and the ride will bolster your faith in nothing more lofty than the profound pleasure of making small children extraordinarily happy. When the diesel engine pulled into the Williams depot, many of the travelers on the platform were squealing with anticipation. Isabel, one of the older and more dignified passengers, found our assigned seats and spent several minutes deciding whether it was better to spot Santa from the window seat or to be close to him should he appear in the aisle. Attendants in baker’s hats passed out cocoa and sweets, and to the tune of "Winter Wonderland" we chugged through the complete blackness that is northern Arizona at night. It took half an hour to reach the "Pole," which resembled a ghost town garlanded with lights. Santa waved from his sleigh, then leapt aboard and strode through the cars, passing out bells and scaring the daylights out of the littlest kids.

Other railroads offer versions of the Polar Express, but the particular beauty of this one is in the loveliness of the old trains and the proximity to the Grand Canyon at a time of year when few visit. A day trip makes a perfect complement to the Polar Express experience. Entertainers decked out in Old West costumes keep the kids happy with songs until you arrive at the Grand Canyon. Optional bus tours departing from the train station hit all the most breathtaking vista points. On the day we visited, the park was empty, and at stop after stop we stood in silence and solitude, gazing out over the rim. As much of a miracle—and almost as memorable—as meeting Santa the night before.