Wednesday, December 21, 2011

CP Holiday Train

Last year, or maybe the year before...it all becomes a blur after 35, I was driving home and while on the highway saw this weird looking train go by.  It was all lit up and I tried to turn around and catch up with it but it went too far north of the highway and I lost it.  Fortunately, we have google and it's possible to find out about anything with just a few keywords!

Turns out the train is the annual holiday train which makes stops all across Canada collecting for the food bank, putting on shows and making sure Santa sees lots of our communities before the big day!

The day it was to be stopping at the two closest stops we couldn't make it...schedules can be like that...but we knew it should be coming through our town at around 5:15pm.  Armed with snacks, coffee, tea and all bundled up we drove to the bottom of town and parked by the tracks.  We weren't the only people with the same idea!  The street was lined with cars waiting for magic.

We waited.

And waited.

Checked for delays from the car.

Watched two trains go by.  Neither one was the holiday train.



I took this photo thinking it was finally coming...nope.  But let's pretend this is the right train....


Finally!  Turns out the holiday train was 45 minute behind schedule leaving people at the next stop standing out in the cold waiting!


I suspect the lateness is because the train actually slowed down when it went by.  It must slow down for people along the route to get a nice look at it as it goes by.  They have an awesome social media team/person who keep everyone up to date the whole time so it was easy to find out about delays.






I was having a hard time getting the photos in the right order as the lights flash on and off and show different scenes!



Bye holiday train!  See you next Christmas!!


Have a fabulous day!

10 comments:

highheeledlife said...

What a fabulous treat!! little Prince must have just loved it!!! happy Wednesday..xo HHL

Jeannie said...

How cute!!!! What a nice idea to have it collect food.

Adrienne Shubin said...

What a cute idea! I would love to see that.
There is a town about an hour from here that holds a holiday lighted semi-truck parade down the main thoroughfare every year. Bill and I attended once several years ago and it was quite fun and festive. Needless to say, a train seems a bit more charming than a parade of semi-trucks.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

What a great idea!
We have a lighted truck parade that collects food for the food banks it's quite impressive as people go to a lot of trouble decorating their rigs. The best part is that they fill many trucks for the needy.

Princess Freckles said...

HOW COOL! Reminds me of the polar express! :) So glad you were able to see it pass by.

Anonymous said...

Nice! The Little Prince is learning that train-watching is definitely a waiting game. I hope he was at least a little more excited by the intervening freights than was the Princess. :)

Sandy aka Doris the Great said...

That is so cool! I'd never heard of it before. Thank you.

Shelley said...

How fun! Can't see that happening here in Britain, where commuter trains need to stick to schedule (ha - as if).

Mandi @ Southern Gnome said...

This is awesome. My son would love this!

Teena in Toronto said...

That's cool! I've never heard of it.