Christmas at the Ranch returns with more lights, sights, and Disney train cars (2025)

A nearly 2-mile train ride through Santa Margarita Ranch can get you within lap-sitting distance of Santa Claus.

You might get serenaded by carolers as you head into his barn—or distracted by the Pig Iron's bar cart, the fire pits waiting for marshmallow roasting, Central Coast Trailrides' ponies, or the crafty Christmas marketplace.

However, Christmas at the Ranch co-founder and coordinator Steve Rossi said that the village isn't the star of the show.

"It really is a train event that has a village you can go to," he said.

With three fully restored Disneyland rail cars and two steam-engine-pulled trains bedecked in holiday lights that travel a loop through ranchland illuminated by almost a dozen big and small displays, Christmas at the Ranch is in its second year of celebrating the season on the Central Coast. Responding to customer comments about the first year, Rossi said the ranch brought in more vendors, activities, and lights for the second annual event, which takes places Friday and Saturday through Dec. 21 and on Sunday, Dec. 22.

"We knew people wanted more. It really sort of organically grew, as to what we could do," Rossi said. "Opening day, my wife and I looked at each other, and we were like, 'Uh oh, I think we took on a lot.'"

Everything came together, though, after two full months of preparation to fashion and coordinate a festive wonderland.

"So far, all the feedback has been incredible," Rossi said. "We had people saying that they were buying tickets to come back again."

While tickets to ride in the Disney cars sell out pretty fast, Rossi said that riding in the open-air train car is just as good and can get guests closer to the displays, which have some surprises tucked into them.

The tracks and trains have been at the ranch since 1999, Rossi said, when his father bought it and the Disney cars. Using them for a sort of Christmas-themed event was a backburner idea for his family, he said.

When his kids were young, he and his wife would take the family to events around Christmas.

"We always did the local activities every year," he added. "We'd pick one to focus on ... the Cambria Christmas Market or the Melodrama."

A couple of those years, the family also rode a Christmas-themed train in Jamestown, Rossi said, and took The Polar Express Train Ride in Sacramento.

"We always said it's too bad we can't do something like that," he said.

Last September, AGM Community Partners approached the Rossis about doing a fall or winter festival, and they pitched the holiday Christmas train and pulled it together in time for the holiday season.

Proceeds from the event benefit AGM, which organizes community events that benefit local charities, and the Vintage Traditions Foundation, which aims to get antique and vintage machinery restored and up and running again. Vintage Traditions helped with the train car restoration, Rossi said, noting that a WWII era C-47 plane from Camarillo is on the ranch getting restoration work done.

"One of the big elements [the nonprofit] does is it's a way for groups to donate old equipment, old elements that need restoration," he said. "The idea is to find the resources to restore the equipment, preserve the equipment, operate the equipment, and then share it with the community."

At the first event, Christmas at the Ranch highlighted two fully restored original train cars that toured Disneyland on opening day in 1955. A third debuted this year after spending 11 months in the shop, and there's a fourth train car getting its facelift right now, Rossi said.

"Tickets are selling really fast," he said.

Find tickets for Christmas at the Ranch at my805tix.com. The event is open Friday and Saturday through Dec. 21 and Sunday, Dec. 22. Tickets are $40 for adults and $25 for kids ages 3 to 12.

Fast fact

• The Paso Robles Moose Lodge launched its Holiday Give Back Campaign, which culminates on Christmas Day with the third annual Ricky Bittle Memorial Day of Giving. So far, the lodge has collected 160 pounds of nonperishable food, which it donated to Loaves & Fishes; delivered Thanksgiving meals to the local homeless community and service workers; and partnered with Toys for Tots, Coats for Kids, and the Angel Tree to provide holiday gifts for local children. On Christmas Day, the lodge will be open to anyone in need and offer free hot holiday to-go meals, toiletry bag care packages, and new toys for children. Find the event at 635 28th St. in Paso. For more information on how to participate, email [emailprotected]. Δ

Reach Editor Camillia Lanham at [emailprotected].