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Every brake screech, whistle and rattle from the movie The Polar Express came from recordings of a historic locomotive, the Pere Marquette 1225. After four years of costly repairs, passengers can once again jump onboard and travel to see Santa Claus at the North Pole (imagination required).

Dr. Tim Ihrig has almost become a member of the Avelleyra family. He's helping Augie and Phyllis, who've been married 60 years, lead the best lives they can under trying health circumstances. When Phyllis was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, Ihrig asked what she wanted from the rest of her life.

A chronic brain disease afflicts former pro football players, boxers and others who suffer repeated brain injuries. Doctors now can only diagnose it with certainty after someone dies. But researchers are working on tests that could work while people are alive.

The spacewalks are to repair a bad valve in a pump that has caused problems with the station's cooling system.

A German brewers association is seeking UNESCO World Heritage status for a 500-year-old law that dictates how to make beer. The brewers argue that the law ensures purity in German beers. But others say the law is from a bygone era.

Employees at Silicon Valley companies such as Apple, Google and Facebook are highly paid and enjoy a wide range of perks on the job. The security guards who watch over their workplaces earn around $16 an hour, a tough wage to get by on in the high-priced San Francisco Bay Area.

It became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy. Its former mayor was sentenced to 28 years in prison. And a TV personality compared it to Chernobyl. But a new year is on the horizon, and for some parts of Detroit, things are looking up. Really.

In 1963, a gang robbed the Glasgow-to-London Royal Mail Train. They got away with millions, but were caught and put in prison. Biggs, though, escaped and spent 36 years living openly in Brazil. The self-styled "lovable rogue" returned to the U.K. in 2001 and spent 8 more years in prison. He was 84.

Reports show former Major League Baseball player Ryan Freel, who took his own life last year, suffered from a degenerative brain disease. Injuries like that are usually associated with the hard knocks of football. Host Michel Martin talks with sports writer Pablo Torre about the prevalence of brain injuries in other sports.

Monday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions came down to the kicker. NPR's Rachel Martin and sports reporter Mike Pesca discuss the role of the NFL kicker and whether that job is getting more respect from fans and players.