Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

"The conductor feels awful that this miscommunication occurred," Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific, said in a statement. "He would have been proud to be the conductor on the Glen Ellyn 'Polar Express.' "

The group, organized by the Glen Ellyn Park District, was scheduled to board a train at 11:25 a.m. Saturday for a magical ride to see Santa just like in the holiday story and movie. The district had run two similar rides successfully Friday night and earlier Saturday.

But when Sarah Sandquist, recreation supervisor, climbed aboard the 11:25 a.m. train to begin ushering in children with special Polar Express boarding passes, the conductor quickly told her they had the wrong train.

Sandquist said she had hoped the conductor was right and that another train would pull up shortly. But after 15 minutes, she called the Regional Transportation Authority, which put her on hold twice as the families waited on the platform. Finally, a supervisor told them that the earlier train was, indeed, theirs.

"It was just really sad," said Sandquist, who said many in the group had traveled from out of town for the experience. "Just knowing that I was going to be disappointing all of those people and that all of those kids had come to see Santa and that I was the one that would have to bring them the bad news, it broke my heart too."

Davis said the error occurred because Metra's Polar Express trains operated on regularly scheduled trains this year, not on special extra trains, as they had in the past. Union Pacific's operating team was notified by Metra about Saturday's 11:25 a.m. Polar Express ride, but when the 30-year veteran conductor checked with the operation center, he was told a group was not expected.

Metra and Union Pacific offered the Glen Ellyn Park District a free makeup ride at 11:25 a.m. this Saturday, said Michael Gillis, spokesman for Metra.

Sandquist offered to take disappointed group members to lunch with Santa, but only about four families accepted the invitation. She said she was working to contact all of Saturday's participants to offer them the makeup ride or a free ticket for next year.

(The preceding article by Vikki Ortiz Healy was published December 15, 2009, by The Chicago Tribune.)