Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

This weekend, dd and I finally managed to see a piece of Canadian History that has been going on for thirteen years now - the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train!  This year the train visited 140 communities along its route.  Here you see the train pulling into Vulcan, Alberta, where we were waiting to see it.

As the train reaches each destination, it stops and a boxcar stage opens up.

I am not actually sure if these energetic elves were part of the show or members of the community but they managed to keep everyone very enthusiastic.

As we all stood on the railway siding, performers including folk singer, Valdy, performed for the crowd.  This is really going to show my age, but I remembered every word to Valdy's "Rock 'n Roll Song"!  I even saw him almost forty years ago when he was the warmup act for another band!  It was great to see him again and sing along.

DD, Katie, and I enjoyed the event so much!  As you can see, so did her dog, Dexter.

No excuse for this extreme closeup other than the fact bloodhounds are so darn pretty and Dexter is no exception!  lol

And here I am!  It is very rare that I actually end up in a picture so I thought I would share it as well.  Usually I am the one behind the camera.

Some folks have managed to see the train every time it has come through.  I was pretty impressed by how prepared some folks were to watch the show in comfort - like this gentleman!

Since its inception in 1999, the train more than $5.6 million and over 2.45 million pounds of food has been collected in Canada and the United States.
The goal of the Holiday Train is to collect food and money for local food banks and to raise awareness in the fight against hunger. At each event, the Holiday Train provides a box car stage, a line up of great musical talents and a corporate contribution to the local food bank. The community, in turn, is encouraged to donate food and funds, all of which stays in the community

This is just some of the food which was collected the day we were there.  In addition, over $5,000.00 was received by the foodbank, which they are able to use to provide four times that amount of food - over $20,000.00 worth!

In typical prairie style, there was a hayride after the event for everyone to enjoy.

That a beautiful team of horses!



Here is the caboose, slowing disappearing after the event.  I would love the chance to see the train at night sometime since the sides were covered in Christmas light designs.