(Canadian Pacific issued the following news release on October 17.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. –The musicians have been chosen, the whistle stops selected and the lights soon will be hung on the boxcars with care for Canadian Pacific Railway’s U.S. Holiday Train and its goodwill journey for food shelves across the U.S. Northeast, southern Ontario and Upper Midwest.
This year’s U.S. Holiday Train musicians will be Milwaukee folk-rocker Willy Porter, Nashville bluegrass/country singer-songwriter and former New Grass Revival guitarist Pat Flynn and Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Famer Tracey Brown. Visit the Holiday Train page for their bios and photos or go to their websites at http://www.willyporter.com/, http://www.patflynnmusic.com/ and www.riproar.ca
Beginning Dec. 1 at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Penn., the U.S. train will visit 40 communities in New York, southern Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota before ending Dec. 17 in Weyburn, Sask. Major waypoints include Binghamton and Plattsburgh, N.Y.; Windsor, Ont.; Gurnee, Ill., just north of Chicago; the greater Milwaukee area; Minneapolis-St. Paul and Minot, N.D.
A second Holiday Train will stay entirely in Canada, leaving Beaconsfield near Montreal on Dec. 1 and ending in Port Moody outside of Vancouver, B.C., on Dec. 19, making 60 stops. This train’s artists will be Wide Mouth Mason and Lisa Brokop.
The program has raised $2.4 million (Cdn) and collected 1.2 million pounds of food since the first Holiday Train ran in 1999.
Thousands of people gather trackside at depots, railroad crossings and other unusual venues along CPR’s route to enjoy the arrival of the brightly decorated trains lighting up the winter nights. The musicians, who ride in private vintage cars at the end of the 12-car train, hop out and climb aboard a boxcar in the middle of the train that opens to reveal a stage where they perform live holiday concerts and invite crowds to sing along. Crowds donate money and nonperishable food, and the railroad presents a check at each stop. Food banks say the cash donations are especially appreciated because every dollar can distribute $9 worth of food.
About Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway is a transcontinental carrier operating in Canada and the U.S. Its 13,500-mile rail network serves the principal centers of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, and the U.S. Northeast and Midwest regions. CPR feeds directly into America’s heartland from the East and West coasts. Alliances with other carriers extend its market reach throughout the U.S. and into Mexico. Canadian Pacific Logistics Solutions provides logistics and supply chain expertise worldwide. Canadian Pacific Railway is marking its 125th anniversary in 2006. For more information, visit CPR’s website at www.cpr.ca.