Despite cooler temperatures, a few thousand area residents waited in a long line, some for up to two hours, to view the Holiday Express Train up close as it made a stop in Meridian on Sunday.

Part of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroad, the festively adorned six-car train, led by the smiling tank car “Rudy,” is a beloved holiday tradition for many area families. The line of children, parents and grandparents waiting to tour the Holiday Express flowed out of Union Station and along Front Street, well beyond Singing Brakeman Park.

A count by Holiday Express Train staff saw nearly 3,900 visitors come through the train.

“Meridian is always receptive,” Jason Busey, one of the Holiday Express volunteer elves, said of Sunday’s large turnout.

He and fellow elves David Hoge and Philip Nonnemaker are members of the KCS Historical Society and are traveling with the Holiday Express on its 20-stop tour. Kansas City Southern operated the Holiday Express Train for years before a merger with Canadian Pacific.

It is fairly common to see a large turnout of spectators at each stop eager for their chance to walk through the cars decked out in Christmas-inspired themes and posing for photos in front of “Rudy” and the other train cars adorned in colorful, bright lights.

“We had over 3,800 people come through the train last night in Jackson, and we turned away probably 400 people,” Busey said of Saturday’s stop at the Pearl station.

Alexis Pugh and Anita Walker drove from Newton to bring three little ones to see the train. They said a long line had already formed when they arrived about a half hour before the tours began, but that the line, to their surprise, moved steadily.

Pugh said her daughters loved the model trains, Christmas villages and decorations on display inside the train as well as the festive lights outside.

“It was amazing,” she said of the holiday train. “They loved it.”

Katilyn Walker wasn’t sure how her 18-month-old daughter, Elizabeth Ross, would react to the train. She and her mom, Kimberly Walker, waited in line for more than an hour for the tours to open.

“She loved it, especially the model trains,” Walker said. “She was just looking at everything.”

While the tour of the holiday train was free, donations to the Meridian Salvation Army were accepted. For the past 22 years, the Holiday Express has joined with The Salvation Army to raise more than $3.1 million for local Salvation Army organizations during the holiday season.

The Salvation Army manned one of its red kettles outside the Meridian Railroad Museum, while members of the army’s church band played Christmas carols for people waiting in line to tour the train.

The Meridian Railroad Museum opened for the afternoon, giving free tours to visitors and offering hot chocolate and rides on its kiddie train. Mrs. Claus even made an appearance.

Executive Director Anne McKee said the railroad museum also hosted sensory-sensitive and special needs families from The SPOT as they gathered for a scheduled tour before the Holiday Express opened to the general public.

Besides Meridian and Pearl, the Holiday Express Train will stop in Vicksburg on Monday afternoon before the train departs the state and heads to Louisiana. Altogether, the holiday train will visit 20 communities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas by Dec. 14.