Dad goes viral after building DIY Polar Express train for daughter
An enterprising dad is going viral after he built a custom "Polar Express" train for his daughter and granting her Christmas wish in the process.
Mason Smith shared his elaborate DIY project in a TikTok video, which has quickly garnered over 55 million views since Dec. 10.
In the time-lapse video montage, Smith can be seen building a train out of plastic canisters, plywood, industrial paint and colored tape in his driveway.
"This is year 2 of a tradition that I hope lasts forever! Don't let this video fool you. This little Polar Express took me 3 long days, 2 smashed fingers, 20 sheets of plywood, and a whole lot of Christmas spirit," Smith wrote in part in the accompanying caption.
The video wrapped with a special finale, showing Smith taking his daughter and her friends on a ride through town on her Polar Express.
"And what you didn't see is that 2 hours before the parade it came down to the wire, our generator quit working, the mower exhaust broke, and it started dumping rain, but we didn't let that stop us," Smith continued in his caption. "Because there was a dream that needed to be made… To be 7 years old in a parade with all your friends and family handing out chocolate in a city you love… Does it get much better than that?"
Tens of thousands commented on Smith's video, gushing about him and his handiwork.
One declared Smith deserved a "father of the year award" while another called him a "cool dad" and someone else asked jokingly, "Can you adopt me?"
Smith has a series on TikTok called "POV: You're a dad," which highlights his activities and ideas as a father, and he previously showcased a train he built for his daughter's birthday in October 2023.
"My daughter saw this at the fair and hadn't stopped talking about it, so I found some of the supplies second hand on marketplaces, and the rest at my local hardware store and got to work," he wrote in a TikTok post about the project at the time, adding that his daughter and friends had "the time of their lives" riding the homemade train.
