When Ron Ester was collecting fares and operating the doors of Chicago Transit Authority elevated train cars part time during the summer of 1987, he never imagined he would one day be an integral part of the CTA’s Holiday Train. After all, it was five years before the seasonal train, adorned with a “Season’s Greetings from the CTA” sign, would make its 1992 maiden voyage.
But today the general manager of the Red, Purple and Yellow “L” lines spends a good deal of his time preparing for the annual Holiday Train, which switches to a new “L” line every week from late November to just before Christmas. Sure, the Holiday Train adds to Ester’s responsibilities, but he said the payoff is well worth it.
“As the (Holiday) Train pulls into the station, it lights up everybody’s faces: the kids, the older people,” Ester said.
Every year, during the month leading up to the Holiday Train’s seasonal run through the city, CTA employees at the rail heavy-maintenance shop in Skokie transform an ordinary six-car, one-flatbed train into a mobile festival complete with multicolored lights, fake snow, holiday music, snowflake and candy cane decals, and cinnamon fragrance pumping through the ventilation. Employees cover train seats with red and green felt seat inserts and replace the advertisements near the ceiling with jokes from the Skokie shop such as, “What kind of motorcycle does Santa Claus ride? A Holly-Davidson.”
“Those are in-house (jokes),” Ester said, laughing. “We should patent them.”
CTA employees who typically operate the rail cars or serve as customer service attendants dress as elves in red-and-green jumpsuits, pointy shoes and striped stockings. They also pass out candy canes to riders. Adorable, yes, but they also serve an important function.
“The elves escort people on and off the train and provide some type of security,” Ester said. “It seems to be this huge thing for graffiti artists to tag the Holiday Train. We found it to be a lot better when we have personnel on the cars.”
Working on the Holiday Train is a CTA privilege. Employees can compete in a CTA Rail Rodeo, which tests the skills of operators and people involved in maintenance via an operating course and other tests. Winners are deemed “the best of the best” and are often in the pool of employees chosen to work on the Holiday Train.
“(The Holiday Train is) like an incentive,” Ester said.
Santa and his sleigh rest on an uncovered rail car, exposed to the outside elements and “L” tunnels, and has his photo snapped with customers at stops.
The Holiday Train can turn a bleak day into a magical one for riders.
“I’ve seen people that look upset when they’re on the platform, and they see the train coming and it brings a big smile to their face,” Ester said.
The train’s appearance hasn’t changed much in recent years. But in its first year, the train was only intended to deliver 30 employee-funded food baskets to charitable organizations around the city. In 1996, the train was opened to the public. The train also makes stops to deliver food baskets filled with canned hams, potatoes, mixed vegetables and desserts over three days. It will deliver 300 baskets this season.
Ester divides his workday between taking care of administrative duties in his office, attending meetings at CTA’s headquarters on Lake Street and riding the “L” on his three lines, dressed in non-CTA apparel.
“I try to get the full customer experience,” Ester said.
Ester’s sterile office, with its white walls and floors and view of the “L” platform, is a stark contrast to the Holiday Train. He makes up for it, though, with decorations on the walls: a shadowbox of mementos from his wedding to his wife, Geisha, and an illustration titled “Journey” of hills and valleys that contain phrases such as “Lack of preparation” or “Failure,” which lead up to a mountain labeled “Success.”
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“It really resonated with me,” Ester said of the gift from his wife. “It shows some of the pitfalls that will make you unsuccessful in life.”
Ester also knows what it’s like to be persistent. After his temporary summer conductor job ended in 1988, Ester began working as a file clerk at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, but he itched to get back to the trains.
“I would call CTA every week,” Ester said, laughing. It paid off. He started as a conductor in 1990 and became a general manager in 2008., In 2010, he moved into his office at the Howard Terminal, 7519 N. Paulina St.
Just above Ester’s desk is a printout of a “Prayer Before Starting Work,” which he said he recites almost every morning to help him with workday stresses such as overseeing his 520 employees, 436 rail cars and being on call 24/7.
A photo of Ester’s 20-year-old son, Ronald, sits on his windowsill next to a framed “Golden El Pass” certificate, which displays a gold-painted CTA fare card. Ester said Mercy Housing gave it to him recently for working with the nonprofit organization to address its complaints about the condition of the Wilson Red Line stop.
Ester also mixes in fun with work. On Thursday, while riding the train, he noticed safety springs were not properly connected between cars and repaired them before continuing with his tour. Near the end of the ride, a Metra car passed, and he jokingly shouted at them, “There’s no quiet car on this train!”
Want to ride the Holiday Train? Visit transitchicago.com/holidaytrain. For more photos of Ester’s “office,” the Holiday Train, visit chicagotribune.com/holidaytrain.