Since 1943, the people of Appalachian Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee have looked forward to Santa's arrival. Not in a sleigh on their rooftops, but on a train. The Santa Train marks its 82nd running this year, bringing presents and joy to small towns along a 110-mile portion of the CSX rail line tucked into remote coal-country river valleys. Many of the children who line the tracks and wait for Santa on the Saturday before Thanksgiving are the third, fourth or fifth generation to do so. “The faces of the kids, that’s what makes me happy,” she said. "You can’t see anything better.” The train starts out in Shelbiana, Kentucky, where families wait in the pre-dawn. At each stop there are dozens to hundreds of people. Many crowd around the back of the train, where Santa and his helpers toss stuffed animals. Meanwhile, groups of volunteer “elves” carrying bags full of gifts fan out, making sure every child goes home with something. Each year they hand out more than 15 tons of gifts that include hats, mittens and fuzzy blankets along with board games, skate boards and teddy bears. CSX employees consider it an honor to be chosen to staff the Santa Train as volunteers. Jesse Hensley had been trying to get a spot for 35 years, ever since he met his wife, Angie, who grew up with the Santa Train in St. Paul, Virginia. The pair was selected to ride the train this year because they volunteered countless hours after the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene devastated their community of Erwin, Tennessee, where Jesse Hensley works as a machinist mechanic for CSX. On Saturday, Angie Hensley was all smiles and nearly as excited as the children she helped distribute toys to, including grandnieces and grandnephews in St. Paul. The joy of helping on the Santa Train was even better than she had imagined, she said