US Army Reserves reads Polar Express to Wilmington students

The Polar Express is a popular children’s book this time of year, but not everyone is lucky enough to hear it told by an actual railroad conductor.

Friday morning, members of the U.S. Army Reserves Railway Transportation Battalion visited students at Wilmington Preparatory School. Conductors and locomotive engineers with the Army read the holiday classic to the children.

Students got to sip hot cocoa while they listened to the tale.

“I think they did a good thing, like a gracious thing, cause they read it for us and it was good. I liked it really,” said 2nd grader Taniaya Simmons.

This was more than community outreach for the members of the Army Reserve. They also used the Polar Express to teach an important safety message to children – that tracks and railroads are dangerous and should never be played on.