Noel R.R.
"Each year, you'll find a different railroad car to complete this unique holiday train." Eleven Hallmark miniature ornaments — the complete 10-car Noel R.R. series (#1–10, 1989–1998) plus the 1998 10th Anniversary Edition Locomotive recreated in fine pewter. One blue locomotive with wheels that turn. A red coal car. A passenger car, a box car, a flatbed car, a stock car, a tank car. A hopper car carrying cookies for Santa. A candy car. And the caboose — 10th and final. The holiday train, complete. All eleven here.
1998 Fine Pewter Locomotive (QXM4286) — 10th Anniversary of Keepsake Miniature Ornaments
The 1998 anniversary edition is not just a re-release of the 1989 blue locomotive — it is a different material entirely. The original 1989 Locomotive (QXM5762) is painted resin/plastic. The 1998 anniversary edition (QXM4286) recreates that same locomotive in fine pewter, a premium metal material, as a dual commemoration: the 10th anniversary of the Noel R.R. series (1989–1998) and the 10th anniversary of Keepsake Miniature Ornaments themselves. Year-dated '98. Two locomotives at the head of the same train — one blue and painted, one fine pewter — both by Linda Sickman.
"Each Year, a Different Railroad Car to Complete This Unique Holiday Train"
The Noel R.R. series launched in 1989 with an explicit collecting promise: this is the locomotive; each year you will get one more car; at the end of the series you will have a complete train. The founding entry is a blue locomotive with wheels that turn, 1¾ inches wide × 1 inch high, year-dated 1989, sculpted by Linda Sickman — "one of the original Keepsake Ornament artists." The premise is stated directly on the 1989 box: "This 'Locomotive' is the first in the new 'Noel R.R.' series. Each year, you'll find a different railroad car to complete this unique holiday train." The series honored that promise exactly: ten consecutive years, ten cars, one complete train.
The cars move from practical freight (Coal #2, Passenger #3, Box Car #4, Flatbed #5, Stock #6, Tank/Milk #7) into the distinctly Christmas register for the final entries: the Cookie Car (#8, 1996) is a hopper car carrying cookies for Santa; the Candy Car (#9, 1997) continues the sweet theme; the Caboose (#10, 1998) closes the series. In 1998 the train received not just its caboose but also a fine pewter anniversary locomotive — the same Sickman design recreated in precious metal to mark 10 years of both the series and the Keepsake Miniature Ornament program itself.
"This 'Locomotive' is the first in the new 'Noel R.R.' series. Each year, you'll find a different railroad car to complete this unique holiday train. Wheels turn. Year-dated 1989."
— Official box description, 1989 Noel R.R. Locomotive · QXM5762 · Sculpted by Linda Sickman · 1¾" W × 1" H · First in series · Hallmark Digital Dreambook
Tips for the Complete Train
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01Display in train order — the series was designed to be assembled as a complete train. The Noel R.R. series is one of the few Hallmark series explicitly designed as a physical assembly: the locomotive heads the train, each subsequent car follows in number order, and the caboose closes it. Display on a long horizontal branch or a dedicated shelf/mantel arrangement: #1 Locomotive → #2 Coal → #3 Passenger → #4 Box → #5 Flatbed → #6 Stock → #7 Tank → #8 Cookie → #9 Candy → #10 Caboose. The train is assembled. The promise is kept.
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02The Cookie Car and Candy Car are the train's most distinctively Christmas entries — position them prominently in the assembly. The first seven cars are classic freight cars (coal, passenger, box, flatbed, stock, tank/milk). The final three before the caboose are Christmas-specific: the Cookie Car (#8) carries cookies for Santa in a hopper car, and the Candy Car (#9) continues the seasonal sweetness. These two entries are where the Noel R.R. becomes unmistakably a Christmas train rather than just a train.
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03Display the fine pewter locomotive separately from the painted blue locomotive — two versions of the same car, two materials, one anniversary. The 1989 blue painted locomotive (QXM5762) and the 1998 fine pewter locomotive (QXM4286) are the same Sickman design in two different materials. Display the pewter locomotive as a standalone beside the assembled train, or at the head of a second formation — a silver train leading the colored one.
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04All 11 Noel R.R. Hallmark miniature ornaments — the complete 10-car train plus the fine pewter anniversary locomotive — are at Already Christmas. The blue locomotive, all nine freight cars, the caboose, and the fine pewter edition. The complete holiday train, assembled. All eleven here.
Every Noel R.R. Hallmark Keepsake
Ten cars and one fine pewter locomotive. Click any to shop.
In 1989, Linda Sickman — "one of the original Keepsake Ornament artists" — put a blue locomotive on the Christmas tree and promised one more car every year until the train was complete. A coal car in 1990. Passenger, box, flatbed, stock, tank. Then in 1996 the train went distinctly Christmas: a hopper car carrying cookies for Santa. A candy car in 1997. The caboose in 1998 — 10th and final — and alongside it, the same blue locomotive recreated in fine pewter, a dual celebration of the series' end and the 10th anniversary of Keepsake Miniature Ornaments. The promise is kept. The train is complete. All eleven here.
✦ Part of our Collection: Hallmark Train & Vehicle Miniature Series, Explored ✦