Emergency workers deliver toys to children across the county

For dozens of Hamilton County emergency workers, the Santa Train is a chance to mix green and red with the flashing of yellow and blue.

Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free Press Carol Billingsley, left, a volunteer with the Santa Train, talks to Eileen Bailey about the presents she received from the Santa Train on Christmas Eve. She received a blanket and many other presents.

The annual train rode once again Friday, as a parade of emergency vehicles left the Chattanooga Fire Training Center on Amnicola Highway and visited what organizers deemed Chattanooga’s neediest children.

Backed by the Chattanooga area fire and police departments, the Forgotten Child Fund organizes the event. This it year put toys in the hands of more than 6,500 children. Most of those went out well before Friday evening.

But the train – with Santa riding in the back of a limousine – remains the big shebang.

“We pull up and make a spectacle,” said Clay Ingle, spokesman for the fund. “We make them feel special for a day.”