Corrected entry: During the hot chocolate scene, the girl places a cup of hot chocolate under her seat. She is given another hot chocolate and puts that one under the seat too, but the original one has vanished.
Correction: The first time the girl puts the cup of hot chocolate next to her on the seat, then later puts it under her seat.
Yes, and the second one (what she will drink) is on the table. (I saw this when I watched that scene last time).
Corrected entry: During then scene where hot chocolate is being served, the girl puts a cup of hot chocolate under her seat so she can give it to the lonely boy in the last car. One of the waiters sees that she doesn't have a cup for herself and gives her another one. She then puts that one under the seat too, and the cup she previously put under the seat is no longer there.
Correction: She actually puts the first cup next to her on the seat, then she takes THAT cup and hides it under the seat. It is one cup that she moves from next to her to under her seat when no one is looking.
There is a mistake. The little girl ends up getting 3 cups total if you pay attention.
Correction: She puts the first cup on the seat first. After she gets a second one, she puts the first one under her seat. (And she drinks the second one.)
Corrected entry: At the end of the movie when they drop off the kid. As the train slows you see steam coming from each of the cars. Steam should only be coming from the main locomotive, where the boiler is, so there's no reason why steam is coming from each car unless its powered but it's not.
Correction: Railroad cars in the days of steam locomotives had what is called "steam heated systems" where a series of pipes would use the heat from the locomotive's firebox to warm the coaches. There would be an exhaust valve on each car to control the heat of the car and let excess steam out. Steam would also appear on the valve that is left open on the end of the train (normally where the next valve would begin if there was another car).
Passenger engines have a system to send steam from the boiler back to heat the cars. Only passenger engines were so equipped. I find it hard to believe they would leave the steam line open at end of train as this would seriously lower the steam pressure for the whole consist. The steam was the power to move the train as well as heat it in cold weather.
Stupidity: The Engineer and Fireman of the Polar Express train crew should have known better than to not bend back the the metallic prongs of the cotter pin, which would have prevented the cotter pin from coming loose and causing all those problems in the driving of the train.
Suggested correction: As you yourself stated, the whole thing is likely a dream, where "normal" reality doesn't apply. In the "real world", the train would never be able to do any of the things that it does in the film.
Dream or not, it is still a stupidity of the train crew to not secure a pin that could work itself free of the controls of the locomotive.
Dreams are often unrealistic. There is no mistake.
The entry doesn't say anything about the entire trip to the North Pole being a dream.
Corrected entry: When the children look out of the train and first see the elves marching by, at least one of the elf's legs are not moving as he is walking. His body is moving along the same pace as the others but his legs are stuck in mid-stride and not moving at all.
Correction: Now I have seen this film on DVD I looked at this specific scene several times but am unable to find the dreaded elf. One elf appears to make odd movements with his legs however this is in preparation for a so-called 'cart-wheel' many elves make whilst walking. I can't see any animated mistake.
It's there. There is a YouTube video where this issue is pointed out.
Answer: Yes, there are girl elves.
Thanks for your help.
Erik M.