Subpolar Express
December 6, 2015 6:33 AM Subscribe
The Canadian Pacific Christmas Train is a rolling holiday party for a cause. Two beautifully lit trains - on a US Route and a Canada route - cruise through the Midwest, stopping in 150 towns along the way to present live music and light shows while bringing donations of cash and food to local food banks.
Oh boy, it's rolling into my town this week! Thanks, Miko!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 6:57 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 6:57 AM on December 6, 2015
Video doesn't work in Canada?
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:18 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:18 AM on December 6, 2015
Video worked fine for me, and I'm in Canada.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:21 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by jacquilynne at 7:21 AM on December 6, 2015
Huh. How much of a trek is this worth? I actually could be in Mason City at 8:00 tomorrow night.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:23 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:23 AM on December 6, 2015
It's great! I took my kid to see it the last two years when it stopped nearby. We also enjoy the Canadian Pacific Murder Train every Hallowe'en.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:36 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by fleetmouse at 8:36 AM on December 6, 2015
We'received a king our kids to see it for the first time this year and I can't wait!
posted by arcticwoman at 8:39 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by arcticwoman at 8:39 AM on December 6, 2015
My kiddos were really disappointed we couldn't actually manage to see it in person. We have to settle for watching a video over and over and over and over....
posted by percolatrix at 9:04 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by percolatrix at 9:04 AM on December 6, 2015
Kind of weird to see 2/3rd of Canada described as the Mid-West.
It's fun. The first year we went in '08 it was brutally cold but it was still pretty fun.
posted by Mitheral at 9:50 AM on December 6, 2015
It's fun. The first year we went in '08 it was brutally cold but it was still pretty fun.
posted by Mitheral at 9:50 AM on December 6, 2015
Hey, I rode the Niles Canyon Railway Train of Lights last night! No live performances, but a nice little jaunt through the hills.
posted by tavella at 10:47 AM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 10:47 AM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
We're going to see this in Minot ND next week. Forecast is 30 degrees F, so we'll be fine. Thank you El Nino.
posted by Ber at 10:58 AM on December 6, 2015
posted by Ber at 10:58 AM on December 6, 2015
Video doesn't work in Canada?
It didn't work on my phone, but it does on my pc?!?
posted by Harpocrates at 11:25 AM on December 6, 2015
2/3rd of Canada described as the Mid-West.
I really don't know how it works in Canada. The Canada route certainly goes much further east, into regions we would not call Midwest. Sorry.
posted by Miko at 3:00 PM on December 6, 2015
I really don't know how it works in Canada. The Canada route certainly goes much further east, into regions we would not call Midwest. Sorry.
posted by Miko at 3:00 PM on December 6, 2015
We just missed it last year, but this year it's been in the calendar since January 1st. My preschooler is psyched!
posted by blue_beetle at 3:58 PM on December 6, 2015
posted by blue_beetle at 3:58 PM on December 6, 2015
Walked over to the local station to see it roll by earlier this week. It's fun, there are always a few families there and it signals the start of the holidays for us.
posted by Cuke at 4:05 PM on December 6, 2015
posted by Cuke at 4:05 PM on December 6, 2015
I just now read my own earlier comment and realized what a dog's breakfast my autocorrect made of my meaning. Still, I can't wait to take my kids to the Christmas train.
posted by arcticwoman at 4:36 PM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by arcticwoman at 4:36 PM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Midwest" is a weird, geographically inaccurate American term that describes the chunk of states south of Ontario, Manitoba, and the eastern half of Saskatchewan. It was coined long enough after Western Expansion that there's no excuse. It reflects the idea that the center of America is somewhere in the northeast - IIRC, Western Canadians are familiar with the mindset.
posted by gingerest at 6:22 PM on December 6, 2015
posted by gingerest at 6:22 PM on December 6, 2015
Yeah; I know that's all true, still, it's recognized. I really couldn't think of another term (they're not all the Plains states/provinces, they're not only Great Lakes states/provinces, etc.
I mean if you want to get wonky about it just calling a region something like the "West" assumes that it's west of somewhere. The "West" coast is east of lots of places. The northern US states are the south to Canada. All regional terms are relative to other regions.
posted by Miko at 7:57 PM on December 6, 2015
I mean if you want to get wonky about it just calling a region something like the "West" assumes that it's west of somewhere. The "West" coast is east of lots of places. The northern US states are the south to Canada. All regional terms are relative to other regions.
posted by Miko at 7:57 PM on December 6, 2015
Not that it's particularly relevant to the actual subject of this thread, but Canadians generally divide our country into Western Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba), Central Canada (Ontario, Quebec), Eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, PEI) and Northern Canada (Nunavut, NWT, Yukon) though there are other options. So, from a Canadian perspective, that train travels through Western and Central Canada, but not Northern or Eastern Canada.
All of that said, the important aspect of the routing remains that it passes within 50 feet of my condo on a train line I can see from my windows and I have *still* never seen it. I believe because of the routing through Toronto that it actually passes by here *twice* every year. STILL. NEVER. SEEN. IT.
Hrmph.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:59 PM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
All of that said, the important aspect of the routing remains that it passes within 50 feet of my condo on a train line I can see from my windows and I have *still* never seen it. I believe because of the routing through Toronto that it actually passes by here *twice* every year. STILL. NEVER. SEEN. IT.
Hrmph.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:59 PM on December 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Miko - sorry, I wasn't correcting you or piling on, I was assuming that Western Canadians might not actually know what "Midwest" actually describes - I didn't, until I'd lived in the US for a while and looked into it. Disclaimer: I am not actually Canadian, I just grew up in Edmonton. Decades later I can't claim I'm representative of Western Canada by any wild stretch of the imagination, but I assumed Canadians would be interested in this thread and that at least some might share my former lack of awareness of US regional distinctions.)
posted by gingerest at 12:16 AM on December 7, 2015
posted by gingerest at 12:16 AM on December 7, 2015
That geography is helpful, jacuqilynne. Sorry for my ignorance, all.
I guess "Central America" would not work for us for obvious reasons, but "Central US" would if we spoke that way.
posted by Miko at 5:34 AM on December 7, 2015
I guess "Central America" would not work for us for obvious reasons, but "Central US" would if we spoke that way.
posted by Miko at 5:34 AM on December 7, 2015
I'm legitimately losing my mind at this. Trains are basically my favorite thing on earth, so this is like... the best.
posted by The Juche Idea at 8:04 AM on December 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Juche Idea at 8:04 AM on December 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm sure I'll get tagged as a grinch for this comment, but...
I was really disappointed in what I saw of the train. There is a bridge in town that passes over one of the main thoroughfares. There is also a traffic light under the bridge. The now essentially abandoned train station, which is pretty much only used when when the holiday train arrives in town is located on one side of the bridge, which means when a train is stopped there, it extends over the bridge, and hence over the road.
Okay, so I couldn't see all of the cars, but I was able to view four or five of them while I was stopped at the traffic light under the bridge. And I really couldn't see what the fuss was about. Okay it was a train plus flashing lights, so for train buffs, I guess it's something. The lights were the same set-up on the first two (or three) parts of the train and just said "Happy Holidays" (I think that's what it was).
I don't know what I was expecting, but it was certainly more than that. Maybe the effect is different when you're beside it in person, and you're not stuck in traffic. Maybe I'm just too old, but after all the buzz I've heard about it and after all the efforts they put into promoting it, it just felt entirely underwhelming.
posted by sardonyx at 9:29 AM on December 7, 2015
I was really disappointed in what I saw of the train. There is a bridge in town that passes over one of the main thoroughfares. There is also a traffic light under the bridge. The now essentially abandoned train station, which is pretty much only used when when the holiday train arrives in town is located on one side of the bridge, which means when a train is stopped there, it extends over the bridge, and hence over the road.
Okay, so I couldn't see all of the cars, but I was able to view four or five of them while I was stopped at the traffic light under the bridge. And I really couldn't see what the fuss was about. Okay it was a train plus flashing lights, so for train buffs, I guess it's something. The lights were the same set-up on the first two (or three) parts of the train and just said "Happy Holidays" (I think that's what it was).
I don't know what I was expecting, but it was certainly more than that. Maybe the effect is different when you're beside it in person, and you're not stuck in traffic. Maybe I'm just too old, but after all the buzz I've heard about it and after all the efforts they put into promoting it, it just felt entirely underwhelming.
posted by sardonyx at 9:29 AM on December 7, 2015
Well, I think it's pretty by itself but also they are hosting events at the stops, and the events are what it's all about.
posted by Miko at 11:43 AM on December 7, 2015
posted by Miko at 11:43 AM on December 7, 2015
Honestly, I hope everybody who wants to see it gets the chance to, and to experience the events. I really don't like being a grinch, and I'm more than willing to accept my reaction could very well been one of those wrong time, wrong place circumstances.
posted by sardonyx at 11:55 AM on December 7, 2015
posted by sardonyx at 11:55 AM on December 7, 2015
If you couldn't see the whole train then I'd guess you missed something (not having yet seen this year's train). The couple years I remember all had animated displays in addition to the Happy Holidays messages. Plus one of the cars is set up as a stage where they have acts and speeches during the stop.
If you were expecting this then you'd be disappointed.
posted by Mitheral at 8:00 PM on December 7, 2015
If you were expecting this then you'd be disappointed.
posted by Mitheral at 8:00 PM on December 7, 2015
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posted by jacquilynne at 6:49 AM on December 6, 2015