The 2017 CP Holiday Train

Canadian Pacific Railway has run the Holiday Train since 1999, crossing Canada from east to west. The train collects funds and food for local food banks, and puts on a good show too!

In the past I've photographed it in Winnipeg - at night - but this year I decided to see it on Sunday as it traveled from Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie for the show there.

According to the schedule, it was due to arrive in Portage la Prairie at 12:15 and the show would go from 12:30 to 1:00 PM.

My intention was to leave my house around 10 AM, railfan CN toward Portage, then cut over to CP around Poplar Point and catch the train coming in, then go see the train in Portage. I had to be back in Winnipeg shortly after 2 PM so I couldn't linger past 1 PM in Portage.

Why railfan CN instead of CP? Easy.. more trains. I wasn't expecting CP to run any trains around the time the Holiday Train was running, so I thought CN would be the better choice.

I did railfan along the CN Rivers subdivision and it was quite productive, but I'll leave that for another post. I arrived at High Bluff and drove around, looking for a decent spot to photograph the train.

I wanted a spot where I could see the whole train, but I didn't want just open prairie.

I found this barn and decided it needed to be in the photo.

Now.. the waiting game.

This year, CP posted a Holiday Train tracker web site where you can see its position in real time. SO. HANDY.

I was able to determine where the train was, so I didn't have to stand outside my car the whole time waiting for the train.

It was about 11:25 when I took the above photo of the barn. According to the tracker, the train was in Rosser, having just left Winnipeg. I was a little concerned because I couldn't see how the train could make the 50-odd miles remaining between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie in 50 minutes to be on time.

While I was waiting, and checking the app, two CP freight trains came by. Again, I'll write about them with the other trains I saw that day.

Finally, the Holiday Train passed at 12:10.

That's the shot I wanted.

I took a little video here with my iPhone:

I hopped in the car and carried on toward Portage la Prairie. The train wasn't going terribly fast so I was able to jump out a kilometre or two later to get this photo.

I wanted to get them at Tucker passing the Viterra grain elevator there. I was easily able to beat them there, and one of the two CP freights I had seen was crawling along on the south track.

There was someone already there with a video camera waiting for the train, and somebody else pulled up in a truck to capture the event. I waited for CP 2249 to pass the freight and took a few photos. I liked this one the best:

Here's a bit of a wider view showing the grain elevator as well.

The Holiday Train stopped at the yard entrance to line a switch - I think - and I drove down between the CN and CP lines to capture the train arriving. Here it is with the large crowd waving to the train.

It came to a stop at 12:46 - 36 minutes late - so I didn't have a lot of time to photograph it before I had to leave. I saw Trainboy Productions there and chatted with him for a few minutes - I'll add his video to this post when he posts it.

Here's a whole-train view in Portage la Prairie. As Eric Gagnon said on Facebook, the view is unobstructed by grain elevators (that used to be here). I would have been fine finding shots around grain elevators. ;)

They were on a stub track - maybe the yard lead?

It was 1 PM so I had to go. I didn't see the show but I understand Colin James and Emma-Lee were great.

That was the 2017 CP Holiday Train for me.

See Also

• Holiday Train 2011
• Holiday Train 2014
• Holiday Train 2015
• Holiday Train 2016
• Trainboy Productions video of the 2017 Holiday Train in Manitoba
• Mile Post Productions video of the 2017 Holiday Train in Ontario

2016's CP Holiday Train

2015's Holiday Train

I wanted to shoot the CP Holiday Train this year, as I did in 2011 and 2014 and 2015. However, I didn't want to shoot it at the same ol' location, so I elected to get it a little east of Winnipeg as it approached our fair city.

After a bit of Google Maps scouting, I decided on the Deacon Road crossing just east of the Winnipeg Floodway. This crossing has two roads paralleling the tracks right next to it, providing a handy place to park off the road, and wide open spaces to see the train.

I wasn't the only one with that idea, as there were already a few cars parked nearby. Fortunately a large field of view was available and I took it. I set my tripod up and took a few test shots.

If you've ever tried night photography, the hardest part is getting the focus right. Fortunately there were some signals next to the road crossing that could be used for reference.

Once I was happy with the focus, I played around a bit with shutter speeds and aperture. I had the camera in full manual - exposure, shutter speed, ISO and focus - and settled on a 30 second shutter speed at f/7.1 and ISO 200.

After that, all I had to do was wait. And wait. The train was late!

Fortunately I was able to sit in my warm car and listen to podcasts. I left the camera outside on the tripod, chillin' in the -7 C temperature. I was a bit concerned about the battery but I figured I could swap it out for my spare if it started to blink.

Eventually a glow was visible on the horizon... it was train time! I fired up the camera and the battery light was blinking, so I opened the passenger door and fetched the camera bag to get the spare battery. Spare.. spare.. where is that spare battery?!

No spare battery.

Train approaching.

What to do?

I popped the camera off the tripod, took the battery out, palmed it and shoved my hand in my pants pocket to warm it up. I was careful not to jostle the lens and change the focus or zoom.

I watched nervously as the train came closer.. closer.. then popped the battery back in, slammed the camera back onto the tripod and powered it up. It would have to do!

iPhone out in my left hand, I waited for the right moment. As the train split the signals, I hit the shutter button and the "record" on my iPhone and watched the train roll on by.

This was the result.

Holiday Train Streak

It was a bit more exposed than I would have liked. If I could go back I would try 15 seconds instead, but I still like it.

An hour of waiting for 30 seconds of train... sounds about right!

Oh, here's the video I took:

See the Train

• 2016 Canadian schedule
• 2016 US schedule
• About the Holiday Train

The train is all about raising money, food and awareness for local food banks and food shelves. Bring a non-perishable item along and enjoy the show!

See Also

• CP's Holiday Train
• 2011's Holiday Train
• 2014's Holiday Train (by day, too)
• 2015's Holiday Train

CP and CN for the Holidays

Both CN and CP ran special trains for the holiday season in Winnipeg in the past few days. CP ran its Holiday Train again (for the 17th season) and it was in Winnipeg on Friday December 4th. CN ran its employee special train over three days, beginning on the 4th - so on Friday we had both railways running Christmas holiday trains. I only saw the CP Holiday Train but other railfans saw the CN trains.

The CP Holiday Train in Meadows, MB by Jack Hykaway

The 2015 CP Holiday Train

It was a mild but windy night on Friday night, and I was out early to catch the train coming to its parking spot by Panet Road. I decided to shoot it just east of the highway 59 overpass. I parked close to the scheduled stopping point and walked to the overpass. I looked around a bit and decided to go up on the "shoulder" of the overpass to get a bit of height.

I set up my tripod and started fussing with my camera to lock in the focus in the dark. As I was doing that, my tripod blew over!

I guess it was good that I didn't have my camera on it yet.

I lowered the tripod and kept my leg against it to stabilize it. I was using my 50mm f/1.8 lens because it's the most light sensitive lens I have. I put the lens in manual focus - since it's a prime lens you can't zoom anyway - and the camera in manual mode.

Soon the train came into view and rolled on past my lens.

The 2015 CP Holiday Train

Once it passed, I walked back to the main scene. There was quite a large crowd and the performers sounded great. I dropped off my donations to Winnipeg Harvest (a great organization my family and I support) and took some photos.

Here I was using my tripod like a "selfie stick", holding it up over the crowd after setting off the 2 second timer and hoping for the best.

The performers were Devin Cuddy and Kelly Prescott.

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

There were quite a few people up at the head end, and as usual it was difficult to get a clear shot. The CP Police and other CP personnel were very much in evidence, keeping people from standing between the rails and unfortunately also standing in the shots. I didn't fret too much about it this year.

CP 2323 and the Holiday Train in Winnipeg

Jack Hykaway caught it both before and after Winnipeg - in Whitemouth as it rolled on by, and by the Meadows grain elevator Saturday as it headed toward Portage la Prairie. Check out Jack's YouTube videos!


So that was CP. The consist (courtesy of Jesse McLaughlin) was:

1. CP 2323 (GP20C-ECO)
2. CP Box Car 220305 Lettering Light Car (Canadian)
3. CP Box Car 220009 Lettering Light Car (Pacific)
4. CP Box Car 220592 Lettering Light Car (Holiday)
5. CP Box Car 220219 Lettering Light Car (Train)
6. CP Box Car 220127 Decoration Light Design Car
7. CP Box Car 220300 Decoration Light Design Car
8. CP Converted Box Car (Generator) 220458 Decoration Light Design Car
9. CP Box Car 220508 Decoration Light Design Car
10. CP Stage Car 42901 
11. Dominion (ex-CN/VIA Coach)
12. Banffshire (Stateroom)
13. Killarney (Dining / Observation)
14. Van Horne (Lounge / Observation)

The CN Christmas Train

The CN Christmas train ran from Symington Yard to Waverley Street and back, twice a night at 5 and 7 PM. I didn't get out to see it but Taylor Woolston did, and took some great video of the train at several locations.


CN wins on the power department with E9A CN 103 accompanying CN 5755 and the four VIA coaches (8139, 8144, 8118 and 8116 I'm told). It also had a caboose, Operation Lifesaver CN 77014.

The CN train was only for employees. I understand the CN train is only going to a few locations - Saskatoon and Edmonton, maybe? It is also raising money for charity. Last year it was for the Christmas Cheer Board, an organization my family supports.

Did you get a chance to see the CP or CN holiday trains?

Extra: Check out this super cool drone video of the US Holiday Train.

Further reading:

• CN Christmas train in 2014
• CP Holiday Train in 2014
• Combined US-Canadian Holiday Train in 2014
• CP Holiday Train in 2011

Canadian Holiday Train Events 2015

There are a few Canadian holiday/Christmas train events coming up that I wanted to bring to your attention. If you have any others, please comment and I'll add them!

Canada

CP Holiday Train

The CP Holiday Train is set to make its way across Canada and the USA again! The Holiday Trains gather food and raise funds for local food banks across North America. Come on out and see the shows and support the needy. The Canadian train departs Montreal on November 27 and will arrive in Port Coquitlam on December 19 (Canadian train information). The US train starts on November 27 in Montreal and visits New York state before traveling from Chicago to Iowa and then re-entering Canada to continue west (US train information).

New Brunswick

McAdam Train Station

The McAdam train station in New Brunswick has been decorated for Christmas! Each room is decorated and volunteers are available to provide tours daily from 2 PM to 8 PM. The cost of the tour is $12/person and includes cider and treats, and the money goes toward the maintenance and improvement of the station. If you haven't been there for a while, go check it out - it's a beautiful station. Station Facebook page. CBC article.

Ontario

The York-Durham Heritage Railway is running a Santa Train every weekend starting November 21. The railway is located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Each trip runs about an hour and costs $20/person. Santa will visit and there will be a magician on board! (More information)

The South Simcoe Railway is running the Santa Claus Express every weekend starting on November 28 through December 20. Advance tickets are all sold out but "limited walk-in tickets are still available for these dates".

Manitoba

The Winnipeg Railway Museum and Rail Travel Tours are offering a day trip by train to Gladstone, Manitoba. The trip starts at the museum in the morning of December 13 with a tour of the museum, lunch, and then travellers will board VIA 693 to ride two hours to Gladstone. In Gladstone ("Happy Rock") travellers can meet Santa Claus and enjoy crafts and games before riding a motor coach back to Winnipeg. The day costs $95/adult and $85/child and is a fundraiser for the museum. As a great bonus, the package includes a year's family membership to the museum, a $35 value! More information or call Rail Travel Tours at 204-897-9551.

Alberta

The Aspen Crossing railway southwest of Calgary is operating a Polar Express train on select dates between November 28 and December 24. Hot chocolate and treats are served on board as the classic children's book "The Polar Express" is read. Santa will greet the train at the North Pole. Tickets are $114.50 for two. Some dates are sold out but some are still available at the time of writing. (More information)

The 2014 CP Holiday Train

I saw the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train in Winnipeg last night. You might remember I saw the combined Canadian-US train in mid-November. CP 2246 was the leader then and it was the leader of the Canadian portion last night.

I arrived at the site off Molson Street just after 8:30 PM and it was already very busy there. I parked a block away and walked down to the west side of the "parking area" to video the train arriving. There was a pretty good crowd there but they thinned out as the train approached. I must say the volunteers weren't really keeping people off the tracks as well as past years. Here's the train arriving:
Once the train stopped, most people went to watch the show. I set up to photograph the tail end but I had to wait a bit for people to move before I could get the shot... the theme of the night.

For those who are interested, I locked the camera to ISO 100 to get the best quality then adjusted the shutter speed to suit. This particular photo was a 2 second exposure that ended up being f/4.5.

I changed my camera battery, as the first one succumbed to the -20C temperatures. Batteries don't last long in the cold!

After photographing this end, I walked up past the show to the head end. Here's a really bad photo of the stage... I held my camera up by the tripod to get it above the crowd, with the timer set to fire after a few seconds.

Recall that the stage folds down - this is what it looked like when it was closed in mid November:

Here's a few views of the head end.

I really need to watch out for over exposure and the above photo was a bit over exposed. You notice it at night when the number boards on the loco are too bright and become fuzzy.

I had to hop in front of the camera for a shot. Here I used a flash to light me up and you can see how it light up the "CP" wreath on the front of the locomotive.

Another view with the flash lighting up the CP on the nose.

I chatted with a few local railfans (hi Mark, Larry, Morgan) at the head end while trying to stay warm waiting for the train to leave.

I set up on the other side of the street to video the train leaving. Here's the video... sadly the battery on my camera gave up the ghost and it stopped recording midway through the train.

Here's a video taken by +Taylor Woolston on the other side of the train. I didn't even know he was there!

The train was in Portage la Prairie late this afternoon and is continuing west to Vancouver on December 18. Here's the schedule.

PS - My friend +Lauri Novak discovered that the US version of the Holiday Train was passing near her and got out to see it.  Check out this rear view!

CP Combined Holiday Train Passed Through Winnipeg

As you probably know, the CP Holiday Train runs each year to raise food and funds for local food banks across Canada and the USA. I've seen it twice here in Winnipeg and I hope to see it again on December 3rd when it passes through.

The equipment is kept in Calgary and needs to be moved to Montreal to begin the journey. A little birdie told me on Friday, November 14th that the combined Canada-USA train was outside Portage la Prairie at noon waiting for CN 302 to pass before it could proceed east. I had some time so I jumped in the car and headed for the CP main line to try to catch it.

I knew it was probably an hour's travel from Portage to Winnipeg and I ended up approaching the CP Carberry subdivision at 1 PM, so I was cutting it fairly close. As it happened, there was a CP container train rolling east so I photographed that.

One locomotive? No problem!

I was a bit concerned that I had already missed the Holiday Train. I waited a few minutes then proceeded westward toward Meadows. I sighted the grain elevator at Meadows and noted a headlight beside it. As the train and I converged, it was clear that this was in fact the Holiday Train. I pulled over and photographed it.

The first 10 cars and the first 4 passenger cars are the US train, and the rest are the Canadian train. The train was pulled by two of CP's shiny "new" GP20C-ECO engines, CP 2246 and CP 2249. I understand one will power each train, although there is some question of whether one GP20 will be able to haul the train through the Rockies by itself.

You can see that the locomotives are already decorated with the lights. I assume they will have a wreath on the nose like CP 9815 always did.

After photographing them once, I sped off to try to get them again. I captured this long-distance shot of the whole train just west of Rosser.

Thank goodness for the wide open views of the Prairies!

I got ahead of them east of Rosser and photographed them again, this time shooting every car to be sure of the consist.

I think this next car is a generator car to provide power for the train and especially all the lights.

Here's a little photo showing the connection between cars. You can see a power cable in addition to the usual brake hose connection.

The next car is one of the stage cars. Musicians perform at every stop. The giant silver door folds down and becomes the stage. The musicians stay on the train between stops, which is why the passenger cars are required.

The ERNEST "SMOKY" SMITH, VC car. You should read up on "Smoky" or "Smokey". He was the last living Canadian to be awarded a Victoria Cross. He died in 2005.

The MOUNT ROYAL, a sleeper, I believe.

The KILLARNEY.

The VAN HORNE brought up the rear.

Just for reference, here's what the VAN HORNE looked like in 2011 when lit up at night.

I decided to get them one more time before giving up the chase, so I positioned myself east of the Viterra grain elevator at CP Makwa and also set up my "video camera" aka Canon S3. Here I switched to my wider-angle lens to get a broader view of the train.

That was it for the Holiday Train for now. I hope you enjoyed the photos!

PS here is the full consist.
CP 2246
CP 2249
CP 220305
CP 220009
CP 220592
CP 220219
CP 220127
CP 220300
CP 424959
CP 424977
CP 401754
CP 401750
CP 220031
CP 220332
CP 220037
CP 220476
CP 220225
CP 220451
CP 220458
CP 220508
CP 42901
ERNEST "SMOKY" SMITH, VC
N.R. CRUMP
MOUNT ROYAL
STRATHCONA
DOMINION
BANFFSHIRE
KILLARNEY
VAN HORNE

See Also

• The 2018 CP Holiday Train (Whitemouth)
• The 2017 CP Holiday Train (Portage la Prairie)
• The 2016 CP Holiday Train (Deacon Road)
• The 2014 CP Holiday Train (Winnipeg)

CP Holiday Train and CN Christmas Train

As usual, Canadian Pacific is running their Holiday Train across Canada and the USA to raise money and gather food for local food banks. It's a great cause and I encourage you to get out and see the train and make a donation. I've seen it in 2011 and 2013. The photo at right is in my 2015 Train Calendar.

The complete schedule is here. These are the stops near Winnipeg:

December 3, 6:45 PM - Whitemouth - Railway Ave. across from Whitemouth Hotel
December 3, 9:00 PM - Winnipeg - Molson Street between Panet Road and Munroe Avenue
December 4, 4:45 PM - Portage la Prairie - Opposite Centennial Arena, 390-1st St. NW
December 4, 7:45 PM - Brandon - Assiniboine Ave, west of the 8th street overpass
December 5, 9:15 AM - Virden - North side of tracks on 5th ave South between Lyons Street & Ashburton Street

CN - I've heard that CN will be running a Christmas train for their employees and family from Winnipeg out to Diamond just west of Winnipeg. The train is supposed to depart from Symington Yard at 17:00 and 19:00 on November 21, 22 and 23. The train will feature CN 102 on one end (and a CN freight engine on the other) with some rented VIA coaches for the passengers. All proceeds will go to the Christmas Cheer Board.

The photo at right was from September 9, 2014 when CN ran a Family Day train in Winnipeg on the St. Boniface spur. You'll see that engine on the cover of my 2015 Train Calendar.

There's a couple of good opportunities to get night photos of some interesting trains!

The Holiday Train Cometh

The Canadian Pacific Railway is running its Holiday Train again this year, and it will be in Winnipeg tonight! I plan to go see it, like I did last year.

You can check out the schedule here (Canadian detail here).

The weather looks like it will be decent here in Winnipeg, so hopefully I'll get some good pictures to share.

EDIT: You may have noticed I didn't post any photos. I had the day wrong and it was in Winnipeg on December 5... not the 6th. Oops.

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

Finally I was able to see a Holiday Train!

Canadian Pacific Railway is again running a Holiday Train across Canada (and another across the USA) to raise funds and food for local food banks. I have been away for work the past two years and did not see it pass through Winnipeg. Fortunately this year I was home and could get out to see it.

The train was scheduled to arrive at Molson Street a little east of the CP yard at 9 PM. I drove up there and saw that the train was waiting a bit east of that at 8:45. I took a few photos and then struggled in vain to find a parking spot. It was crowded! I ended up parking a few streets away and hoofing it with my camera bag and tripod.


The train has some performers on board who do a little show at each stop. I was on the other side of the train, taking photos of each car, so I didn't actually see the performance... but they sounded good!

The CPR Police were out in full force and the Winnipeg Railway Museum had volunteers on hand to help with crowd control. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and nobody was doing anything stupid like climbing on the train or crossing between cars.

I took some photos of CP 9815 on the head end before proceeding down the train.


For most of my shots I used a 10 second exposure to bring out as much light as I could. I set a 2 second self-timer so I could press the shutter release and then let the camera settle before taking the shot. It seemed to work well.

The weather cooperated... no snow and not too cold. I was all bundled up and nothing but my finger tips was cold.


Did you know they have a stage on CP 42901 that folds up and down?

Sorry for the grainy photo - this one was hand-held.

They started loading the performers and stage back up around 9:40 PM and were on their way before 10 PM. I believe they laid over in Winnipeg over night and headed out in the early afternoon for a mid afternoon stop in Portage la Prairie. It was snowing so I decided not to chase them out there.

If you get a chance to see the train, do so! It's very impressive. Here's the Canadian schedule and the American schedule.

Please consider donating food, money or time at your local food bank.  Here's a list of Canadian food banks. In Winnipeg you can donate to Winnipeg Harvest.

I'll leave you with the VAN HORNE and the tail end of the Holiday Train. Highball!