Jane Unterbrink of North Pole Express

Working with the Steam Railroading Institute and Village of Ashley Country Christmas, Jane Unterbrink has helped Michigan families make holiday memories on the North Pole Express for two decades

Jane Unterbrink loves Christmas. Born on Dec. 19, some of Jane’s fondest memories of growing up on a farm in Elsie, Michigan, were picking out the family Christmas tree as a birthday outing.

Jane worked in the automotive industry for most of her career. While working for General Motors, she volunteered with the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso because it wasn’t too far from home in Elsie; that began in 2004, the year “The Polar Express” film was released and the Steam Railroading Institute held its inaugural North Pole Express event.

Each season, the North Pole Express takes passengers aboard the historic Pere Marquette 1225 steam train from Owosso to the Village of Ashley for holiday reverie, visits with Santa Claus and plenty of hot cocoa. Pere Marquette 1225 is a piece of cinematic history, with its blueprints and sounds for the locomotive featured in “The Polar Express.”

Twenty years later, the North Pole Express is a Michigan holiday tradition, one that is as popular as it is magical. Case in point: the tickets go on sale in July and sell out almost immediately each year. And Jane is still at the center of the magic, helping to round up volunteers, direct families and even deliver Santa Claus to Ashley while wearing her fur-collared coat and signature black derby hat.

“I grew up on a 160-acre farm in Elsie, Michigan. I worked pretty much automotive most of my life. In 1995, I had the opportunity to go to General Motors. As a union employee, I needed to volunteer my time with a nonprofit organization. I chose the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, which was 15 miles away from my home.

When I asked if they took volunteers, the director at the time was excited. That was in 2004, the year ‘The Polar Express’ movie came out. That first year, the director asked if I had black pants and a white shirt. He said to me, ‘How would you like to ride the train?’

I rode that first trip, helping them with merchandise. After that, I was taking care of all the car hosts, and things kept on growing from there – scheduling the car hosts, getting bells ordered and ribbons put on. We took about 300 passengers, one trip a day, and we ran on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Eventually we couldn't go the route anymore because the tracks were not maintained, and the weight of Pere Marquette 1225 was too heavy.

We needed to find a new home, and Ashley is about 15 miles from my house in Elsie. I looked at the town and how we could be on the track and not block any roads. My vision was a vintage Christmas, because 1225 is a vintage train. That’s how it all started in Ashley.

I retired from GM in April 2020 when COVID hit; up to that time, I used all my vacation days to do every train trip in the book, and here I am still. I take care of communications on the Steam Railroading Institute side, and now I’m chairman up in Ashley – I have a group of very wonderful people to make what we do at Christmas happen.

The town is all decorated and we keep improving every year. We have many buildings and over 40 different locations on our map, from vendors and food trucks to our community center. And of course, we have Santa – he's the number one attraction.

I just love Christmas, and I love making people happy and I love seeing the kids’ smiles. And it's amazing – the adults, when they go to see our Santa, they'll come back to me and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I've never seen a Santa like this.’ He really makes you believe. When you can have a Santa that makes an adult really believe there is a Santa Claus, that's a good feeling.

I was born Dec. 19. One of the things I remember getting as a birthday gift was that we went to get our Christmas tree. When I decorate my house for Christmas, I'm into vintage and the whole bit. Even when I'm on the train, I have different coats with fur that are vintage coats, and I have this hat that became a part of me. It's a little derby hat. Everyone can recognize where Jane is by this black hat. And that's who I am. I'm just a Christmas nut.”