(The Canadian Pacific Railway issued the following news release on November 6.)
CALGARY, Alberta — Back for the fifth year in North America, Canadian Pacific Railway’s two lighted Holiday Trains and their live musical shows performed nightly from our boxcar stages are preparing to make another run this season for hunger relief.
In the past four years, CPR’s Holiday Trains have raised more than $1.3 million (Cdn) and more than 160 tons of food for food pantries and food banks along the Holiday Train routes across Canada and in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest.
The Canadian Holiday Train follows CPR’s mainline between Montreal and Vancouver, beginning Dec. 6 in St. Therese, Quebec, and ending Dec. 20 in Port Moody, B.C. Major stops include: Belleville, Sudbury and Thunder Bay, Ont.; Winnipeg and Brandon, Man.; Regina and Swift Current, Sask.; Medicine Hat, Calgary and Banff, Alta.; and Golden, Revelstoke and Kamloops, B.C.
The U.S. train begins Dec. 3 at Scranton, Penn., and stops in Binghamton, Oneonta, Saratoga Springs, Fort Edward, Whitehall, Ticonderoga, Plattsburgh and Rouses Point, N.Y. In southern Ontario, this Holiday Train will stop in Mississauga, Chatham and Windsor.
After crossing Michigan to rejoin CPR’s mainline at Chicago, the Holiday Train’s Midwest leg begins Dec. 9 at Franklin Park, Ill. Major Midwest stops include: the Milwaukee area, La Crosse, Wis.; Minneapolis/St. Paul and Minot, N.D. The Midwest train will end Dec. 16 on the international border where Portal, N.D., and North Portal, Sask., form one community in two countries.
In 1999, CPR in Canada began running a freight train decorated with thousands of Christmas lights to raise awareness of the issue of hunger prevalent in all communities. CPR launched a second Holiday Train in the United States in 2001.
Event goers at each Holiday Train location are asked to make cash donations or contribute non-perishable food items to selected food pantries or food banks on site. All food and cash donations stay in each community for distribution by those organizations. No food is actually loaded onto the Holiday Train.
Each train has a “stage car.” These are renovated boxcars containing stage lights and sound equipment. At each of the approximately 75 stops in Canada and the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, entertainers perform 20- to 30-minute outdoor concerts. In some locations crowds of more than 10,000 people have turned out to watch the shows and contribute to local hunger relief efforts.
At many stops, local civic groups, sponsors, customers, union officials, and employees help with the event organization as well as the CPR cash contribution to the local food bank or pantry from the stage car.
Communities are encouraged to raise cash and food in advance of the train’s arrival, which is to be the culmination of those efforts. Cash and check donations are always appreciated. Food pantries say that every dollar received has the buying power of more than $5 for them. But non-perishable food items, especially protein items and canned fruit and juices, are also welcome.
This year CPR’s national sponsors for the Holiday Train include: General Electric, Hudson’s Bay Company, IMC Global and Agrium.
The performers who will be on the U.S. train include: Canadian music producer Randall Prescott, country singer Tracey Brown and the Ennis Sisters, a folk-Celtic trio from Newfoundland. In Canada, the performers will include musician and TV celebrity Tom Jackson and recording artists Beverley Mahood, Brad Joiner and Amanda Stott.
Here are the schedules. Times and specific locations of the stops in these towns will be announced later and posted on www.cpr.ca
U.S. Northeast & southern Ontario schedule:
Dec. 3 – Taylor/Scranton, Penn. (at Steam Town); Binghamton, N.Y.
Dec. 4 – Oneonta and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Dec. 5 – Fort Edward, Whitehall, Ticonderoga, Plattsburgh and Rouses Point, N.Y.
Dec. 6 – Streetsville (Mississauga), Chatham and Windsor, Ont.
U.S. Midwest schedule:
Dec. 9 – Franklin Park, Gurnee, Ill.; Sturtevant and Wauwatosa, Wis.
Dec. 10 – Oconomowoc, Columbus, Portage, Mauston and Tomah, Wis.
Dec. 11 – La Crosse, Wis.; Winona and Lake City, Minn.
Dec. 12 – Prairie Island, Hastings, Cottage Grove and St. Paul, Minn.
Dec. 13 – Northeast Minneapolis, Loretto, Buffalo and Glenwood, Minn.
Dec. 14 – Elbow Lake, Minn.; Hankinson and Enderlin, N.D.
Dec. 15 – Valley City, Carrington and Harvey, N.D.
Dec. 16 – Minot, Kenmare and Portal, N.D.
Canadian schedule:
Dec. 6 – St. Therese and Park Avenue, Quebec; Smiths Falls, Ont.
Dec. 7 – Belleville, Port Hope, Whitby, Ont.
Dec. 8 – Alliston, Mactier, Parry Sound, Shawanaga, Ont.
Dec. 9 – Sudbury, Cartier, Ont.
Dec. 10 – Chapleau, White River, Ont.
Dec. 11 – Mobert, Heron Bay, Marathon, Schreiber, Nipigon, Thunder Bay, Ont.
Dec. 12 – Ignace, Dryden and Kenora, Ont., and Winnipeg, Man.
Dec. 13 – Portage La Prairie, Brandon, Man.
Dec. 14 – Broadview, Indian Head, Regina, Moose Jaw, Sask.
Dec. 15 – Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Sask.; Brooks, Alta.
Dec. 17 – Calgary, Cochrane, Canmore, Banff, Alta.
Dec. 18 – Golden, Revelstoke, B.C.
Dec. 19 – Sicamous, Salmon Arm, Chase, Kamloops, B.C.
Dec. 20 – Ashcroft, Lytton, North Bend, Aggasiz, Maple Ridge, Port Moody, B.C.
Canadian Pacific Railway, recognized internationally for its scheduled railway operations, is a transcontinental carrier operating in Canada and the United States. Its 14,000-mile network serves the principal centers of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, and the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. CPR feeds directly into the heartland from the East and West coasts. Alliances extend its market reach throughout the U.S. and into Mexico.