My thoughts....

SCMB had no idea how this recent endeavor was going to go. Fortunately, they are a big outfit and have the wherewithal to give it a good shot, especially with not being sure exactly when all the i's would be dotted and t's crossed for both the RTC branch acquisition and allowing actual train operation. Things had to come together quickly for the Train to Christmas Town to happen in 2012.

I suspect that the advertising ate a big chunk of their revenue, but they must have figured that it would take quite a lot to adequately cover a huge marketplace like the SF Bay Area this first time around.

The Train to Christmas Town program (storybook, cookies, hot choc., costumed characters, etc.) seems aimed directly at very young kids and their families (much in the same manner as the ever popular Polar Express).

BUT...

The HLT has, through the years, developed more in a way that the experience appeals to all ages ranging from warm/fuzzy (w. Santa and the kids) to a real 'hoot & holler' Christmas Party atmosphere (and a whole lot in between).

Even if SCMB decides to go with Polar Express next year, the two trains will be so different that most folks will want to ride both trains over the course of a couple of years.

Let's say SCMB manages to do really well next year (Polar Express + $$$$$ advertising = 15,000+ riders and a profit besides).

Those 15,000+ SCMB riders cannot help but notice the HLT during their visit to Santa Cruz and will no doubt consider the HLT experience at some future time. (Really now...... how can one miss that beautiful piece of rolling eye-candy with open sided cars packed with folks so obviously having a great time.)

IN MY OPINION, a train ride like the Polar Express is really wonderful (especially for the kids) but essentially (to me, at least) a kind of 'one-time family with really young kids...been there, done that' sort of thing, whereas the HLT is an something a number of folks may well end up making a yearly tradition for the entire family (and friends too!), both young and old.

BTW...

The HLT TV ad used for the last two years is a dynamite production (we're really of proud of that... The 'Yellow Bus' folks did a great job producing it. ). Even so... it would be somewhat pricey for RCamp to have it aired to anywhere near the extent that SCMB does with their TV coverage (not to mention print media as well).

But in the long run.... the HLT will really benefit from exposure to folks that see an SCMB ad and then come all the way SC to ride their train.

on another note...

The HLT did rather well this year, especially considering the day Christmas fell on...

You see....the three or four days before Christmas always do well 'cause school's out, the family is in town and everyone seems to finagle a few days off before the 24th. (The two weekends before Christmas always seem to sell out every year as well.) Last year, we had 'the perfect storm' with a Friday/Saturday/Sunday (the weekend before Christmas) followed by a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday and Friday (23rd) (8 DAYS IN A ROW!!!) with full trains running every night.

This year, however, Christmas was Monday, which kind of had the opposite effect on ridership.

The Friday Saturday and Sunday trains (which always sell out regardless) were indeed full once again, but the days M-Th that preceding week we felt seemed a bit too soon before Christmas for most people to plan for a weeknight outing (perhaps 'cause people might figure that they don't want to try for getting days off THIS week what with Christmas not happening until Monday NEXT week, and getting a whole weekend off in between anyway). (We may perhaps have been wrong in this assumption, but, really... sometimes in cases like these it's hard to figure in advance.

Annnnd....

It's not a good thing to run (nearly) empty trains if it can be avoided... like a sparse crowd at a Comedy Club, the energy and feeling just isn't there.... and it really kind of sucks for both the performers (cast and crew)and the audience (passengers) when this happens.

The HLT is an 'open seating' train so it can be especially difficult to encourage everybody in a relatively empty train to sit together in the same car or section in order to 'fill the house', as it were.

However, there HAVE BEEN times that enough people on a relatively 'empty' HLT train (and their kids) sort of 'gravitate' to the 'center stage' (Combine Car) during the ride so that a really nice bubble of 'energy' is created. When this happens it is not unusual for some of the HLT season's most wonderful, warmest and fuzziest feelings (for both cast AND passengers) to occur. I't really neat!...and can quite literally bring tears to the eyes...

Gary...