Polar Express finds success in N. Miss.

A North Mississippi edition of The Polar Express has booked extra rail cars to handle demand for premium seating on the Christmas-themed rail excursion.

The inaugural event is expected to hit the upper limit of a 30,000- to 40,000-guest range given when it was announced in August.

“We could potentially welcome 40,000 people aboard the event this year, which is remarkable,” said Angela Lane, vice president of sales and marketing for Premier Rail Collection, a unit of Iowa Pacific Holdings.

“It has been a phenomenal success. This has been the most robust launch for any Polar that we’ve done,” Lane added. The company, an operator of short-line railroads and rail excursions, runs nine Polar Express events in the United States and Britain.

Lane was in Memphis last week to promote the Batesville Polar Express on selected dates from Nov. 20 through Dec. 27. The train will depart from the railroad depot on Batesville’s square.

Iowa Pacific began offering rail freight service this summer from Southaven to Grenada on the Grenada Railway, a former Illinois Central track.

Lane said the company is considering adding dinner trains, possibly as soon as the July-September quarter of 2016, and focusing on the area’s rich food culture.

“We are looking to offer farm-to-fork regional cuisines when we develop our dinner trains,” Lane said.

The Polar Express is a one-hour train ride based on the classic children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Tickets — $20 to $85 a person based on service class and travel date — are on sale at GrenadaPolarExpressRide.com or by calling 877-334-4783.

Charlotte Park, an event spokeswoman, said demand for first-class and diamond-class seats was so strong that organizers announced extra capacity two weeks ago.

First-class guests get table seating, and diamondclass guest seating is in a dome car or observation car.

A casting call and job fair was held at 115A Public Square in Batesville on last Friday and Saturday to hire 100 workers for the event.

Jobs included gift shop sales, ticket agents and theatrical roles that include elves, conductors, chefs, hobos and Santa Claus.