London North Eastern Railway has helped deliver Christmas to Evelyn Barker, a three-year-old girl from Leuchars in Scotland.

Evelyn only had one Christmas wish, and that was for a teddy bear. Members of her family, based in Yorkshire, got in touch with LNER to ask for help.

There was bear-ly any time to spare after the new restrictions were introduced and meant Emma Barker and James Hamer couldn’t deliver the gift in person.

The bear joined the 07:35 LNER York to Aberdeen service on Tuesday 22nd December to make the journey in under four hours, arriving into Leuchars at 11:28.

Evelyn’s parents met the LNER crew at Leuchars with the special delivery making it in good time for Christmas Day.

David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: “We are thrilled we’ve been able to help make Christmas truly very special for Evelyn this year when her family, like so many others, were unable to travel to be together.”

“In what has been a challenging time for all of us, I’m proud our teams were able to help sprinkle some Christmas magic and will hopefully make many people smile.”

Evelyn hasn’t named the bear yet, which is more than five feet tall.

Evelyn’s Dad, Major Tim Barker, said: “We received a message from Auntie Emma and Uncle James in Leeds telling us to get to Leuchars Station to meet the train. We couldn’t believe it when we saw the bear emerge from the First Class carriage with the help of the onboard crew.”

Evelyn’s Mum, Emily Barker, said: “We are so impressed and amazed LNER made this happen for us. All Evelyn wanted for Christmas was a bear and we didn’t think it would happen

Where Next?

RailAdvent Plus
Support the website and get benefits in return
RailAdvent News
The latest railway news
RailAdvent Shop
Railway Prints, DVD’s / Blu-Ray’s and more
LocoStop Community
Come and share your railway pictures
Mainline UK Steam Info
Upcoming mainline steam tours/loco movements
LNER
Visit their website