CP Holiday Train Blog

Holiday Train in Minot

A video our crew snapped of the band in Minot, North Dakota

Seeing beyond Santa...

We received this note from a friend of the Holiday Train this week:

"Sometimes you just don't know who you are going to inspire. My 10 year old son, JT, is learning about poems in school. His class project was to write a personal poem about the holidays. Attached is the poem he wrote. Thanks so much to you and the team for inspiring my child and helping him see beyond Santa."

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

The Train is coming,
I can hear it.
The Season is coming,
I can feel it.
Bright lights.
Happy faces.
Joyous people
Everywhere.

But I can’t forget
Those who need.
Hoping for food and
Hoping for money.
They can’t be happy
Without their daily needs.

The Holiday Train.
The train brings hope
down the tracks.

The train’s not
Just about
Pretty lights and
Cheerful songs.
It was made to
Warm the hearts
Of the hungry.

The train travels
Far and wide,
To collect food
And money for
Those in need.

It brings a party in a package.
It brings people together.
It brings hope.
It makes us care.
It makes us remember.

The Holiday Train
 Is there to
“Lend a helping hand.”

Standing on the platform
I am waiting.
Clanging.
It is coming.

Like a beacon in the night
I can see it.
It warms my heart.
The lights are glowing
Like a second sun.
Lighting the darkness
And illuminating the cause.

The engine roars through the station.
It takes my breath away.
It inspires me to do more.
To be more.
To help more.

Such a powerful train,
with a powerful message.
A moment in the night
A change in me
Forever.

The Holiday Train
and I
 are there to
“Lend a helping hand.”

The Holiday Train enters North Dakota!

The U.S. Holiday train arrived this evening in Hankinson, ND, after several fantastic days in Minnesota. The train was greeted by a firework show that was a sight to see.

Willy Porter, Sydney Grigg, and Red Plaid Jacket rocked to singing and dancing crowds all night! It was great to see all of the communities of Elbow Lake, Hankinson and Enderlin come together for their area food shelves. There is a lot of support which is what the season is all about!

Thank you to all who came out and for all of your support.

Nicole S.

Generous community donates more than $162,000 for a new Annandale food shelf

[press release]

The Annandale Food Shelf is getting a new building to meet the growing demand for their services. 

The food shelf is managed by a very strong and talented staff of unpaid volunteers. With the huge growth of families needing help they have outgrown the current rented facilities. The new building, announced tonight from the CP Holiday Train stage, is expected to be completed by September of 2012.

“We’re proud of the volunteers that operate the food shelf,” said Don Nelson of Anchor Dock & Lift. “A big thank you to the caring customers and business partners of Anchor Dock & Lift who have helped make the new building possible, and to M&M Bus Company, who have donated transportation services to the Holiday Train event.”

For the last five years Anchor Dock & Lift in Annandale Minnesota has hosted a Train Party prior to the Holiday Train arrival. The main agenda is to thank their many friends, customers and business partners. Last year it was attended by 125 customers and business partners and raised just over $12,000.00 dollars for the Annandale Food Shelf. 

This year with a donation from the Morgan Family Foundation of $150,000.00 the total donation will exceed $162,434. The new owners of Anchor Dock & Lift, Jefferson and Joelle Bishop are committed to continuing and funding this ever growing tradition.

“Canadian Pacific is honored that the Holiday Train was chosen for this announcement,” said Doug McFarlane, CP Vice-President Operations – US. “It really captures the community spirit that drives the Holiday Train.”

Another Successful Day on the U.S Holiday Train.

The US Holiday Train has been traveling across the Midwest for several days now spreading cheer and doing our part for the local communities and food shelves.

As we head into our final week we couldn’t have asked for a better Holiday Train season. The crowds have been amazing and the train and shows have been right on schedule, thanks to our crew.

The lights, decorations and equipment we use on our train to make it shine bright every night are typically used for your lawn at home and, as you can appreciate, are not designed to be strapped on boxcars and moved at a speeds of up to 45 miles an hour.

There is a team of people assigned to the train to fix lights and straighten trees as we move from place to place. Only a short time is given to this crew to make these repairs and our very cohesive team always makes it happen in record time. The Holiday Train relies on the expert employees at the various CP terminals we make brief stops at – to lend a helping hand when possible. Most recently, the Waseca terminal mechanical team were our shining stars.

Their hard work pays off when we pull into each town and see groups of people smiling and cheering for the train. Yesterday we had three great crowds in a row in Winona, Wabasha and Lake City.

It was a gorgeous winter evening as Willy Porter, Sydney Grigg and Red Plaid Jacket rocked the stage, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

Thank you to everyone who came out and to the crew for helping us make it all happen.

~Sarah Proud

Jumping through states

The last few days on the Holiday Train have been a world of fun as we jump through Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and back to Minnesota again. People have braved the cold weather to come out and support their community's food shelf and listen to Willy Porter, Sydney Grigg and Red Plaid Jacket rock the stage.

We had a great show in Tracy, Minnesota as groups of children poured out of four school buses ready for the show. The performers had no problem getting this crowd to dance as everyone in the audience jumped up and down to the music. You could hear the screams and cheers of the kids from a mile away and those passing by could have easily mistaken the Holiday Train for a Justin Bieber concert.

New Ulm, Minnesota brought out another great crowd with a lot of energy. The town of New Ulm was in full support of the Holiday Train. Local community restaurants rallied behind the event offering discounts and deals to those who donated to the local food shelf. It may have been a cold night but it felt like a hot summer day the way this crowd was dancing and smiling.

The town of Janesville, Minnesota was a picture perfect show. The city was lit up with lights and the crowd was spread across a park ready to hear some music. This show could have been pulled right out of a movie with kids on their parents' shoulders and groups of people huddled around a fire swaying to the music. The train was shown in all its glory blending in with the beautifully lit town.

Austin, Minnesota and Mason City, Iowa were other great stops we made these last couple days. Once again the crowds were big and the people were excited. The band came off stage smiling commenting on the great energy they felt from both crowds. Kids were showing off their best dance moves right in front of the stage and everyone was singing along to the great music.

As we continue to make our way through the Midwest bouncing between Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota we hope to see more great crowds and more great donations to these communities.

Sarah

Rochester – Owatonna – Waseca stops on the U.S Train's midwest journey

It started to feel a lot like the holidays as the Holiday Train pulled into a snowy Rochester, Minnesota. Our good crowds continued as Willy Porter, Sidney Grigg and the Red Plaid Jackets played for a cold but excited crowd. The Channel One Food Bank was thankful to have the train in town making it clear that a little help goes a long way.

“Here a donation of up to $2,500 allows us to distribute roughly 12,500 meals” said Jennifer Woodford, Channel One Food Bank representative.

In Owatonna, around 1,500 people braved the cold night air to come out to the Holiday Train and support their local food shelf. The cheers could be heard aboard the train long before the performers came out on stage. You could feel the excitement and holiday spirit as the fans danced and clapped their hands along to the music.
The crowd grew bigger at every stop we made, with the largest crowd at our last stop for the night in Waseca. -23 degrees Celsius didn’t scare anyone away last night, with approximately 3,000 people showing up with arms full of food to donate to the Waseca Area Neighborhood Service Center.

It was a successful day for the Holiday Train and we are excited to continue the fight against hunger as we make our way across the Midwest U.S.

~Sarah P

Where's the white stuff in Wisconsin?

The U.S Holiday Train began its Midwest journey today with warm welcomes from thousands of fans and food pantry supporters. The only challenge for attendees was the warmish winter rain that fell in lieu of snow. That's not to say that our Holiday Train team is complaining, as we've heard about the balmy minus 20 degree Celsius ( -4 degrees Fahrenheit) weather our Canadian Holiday Train counterparts are braving as they travel across Manitoba. Yes, we are rubbing it in just a little..

Our deepest appreciation to all of you who opted to stand out in the rain, umbrellas in hand to dance to the rocking tunes of the band and support of much good will .

Speaking of the "band", Gurnee, Milwaukee and Hartland were the first communities to enjoy the new look of our Holiday Train Band. Drummer Ken, guitarist Kaylen and Midwest folk rocker Willy Porter picked up a lesson in plaid shirt fashion from bassist Rich. All four talented musicians are now sporting similar (if not identical) red plaid shirts as part of their cohesive and energetic act. Sydney Grigg, our female star for this year's tour, thankfully opted to forego the look adopted by her male cohorts, striking what I would call a nice balance between beauty and err.. the lumberjacks.

A full day of Wisconsin shows tomorrow as we head towards what we hear might be a bit of that white stuff in Lacrosse.

~Breanne

Chicago

This morning we're in Chicago. Its a chilly morning but sunny and happy. I'm heading home from here, but before I turned over the blog to my colleagues joining the train today, i wanted to sincerely thank all the CP employees who I've met this week and who have taken extraordinary care of us. It's not easy being a railroaders, and there is a kinship between those of us on the rail. From the road crews and road managers to the area supervisors and CP Police Services, you've all worked so hard to make sure we met our shows and kept our audiences safe and happy. You are part of the Holiday Train family!
To all the HT fans still anticipating the trains arrival over the next couple weeks, make sure you give all our guys a nod out there. This couldn't happen without all of them, and they do it all for you to enjoy.
Support your local food bank and remind everyone that human kindness is alive and well this holiday season.

Peace to all
Lauren

Willy Porter's Blog

The Holiday Train is rocking down the tracks as we head into Cambridge Ontario today! The crowds have been fantastic and very enthusiastic thus far. The various local food banks are enjoying a wonderful boost from the generous donations flowing in! This year's band is a crackin' 5-piece ensemble and we are finding that our mix of classic and contemporary Holiday tunes is pleasing to a wide audience indeed. We will continue to add new songs into the show to keep things fresh as we traverse through Canada and back into the US.

Life on the train is a gift! The feeling of being able to contribute to something greater than any of us spills into the music and makes every day feel like an opportunity on the CP Holiday Train. The weather has been very mild so far, except for a bit of rain in Hamilton Ontario last night. We know the snow is coming though, and honestly we welcome it! The train looks amazing in the snow, and I know it makes Santa happy to be in his native climate.

This early momentum we have gathered will carry us well into the next three weeks of music, laughter, charity and Holiday spirit. I hope you can come out and be a part of the fun!

More soon,

Willy Porter