Check out these locations for some great Midwest Holiday Trains!
For our twelfth and final
TrainWeb article of 2016, we have decided to take you on an exciting
journey across four states to visit five of our favorite Holiday
Trains. Visiting at least two or three of these trains has become an
annual tradition for the two of us over the past few years... and if
you live or frequently visit the Upper Midwest area... we hope after
reading about some of the trains maybe this will become a fun new
tradition for you and your family come 2017. Put on your Santa hat and
get ready to hit the rails with us!
CP HOLIDAY TRAIN (Various Locations in IL, IA, MN & WI)
We begin with Canadian Pacific's
Holiday Train. Depending on where you live, this might be the most
easily accessible train of the five to see, as it travels across the
country on different Canadian Pacific routes every year. In 2016, the
train began in New York State, went up into Southern Ontario, and
passed through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
and North Dakota before heading back up into Southern Alberta. Almost
every year it runs through the northern suburbs of Chicago, Milwaukee,
the Twin Cities, and along the Mississippi River in Eastern Iowa. Every
20-50 miles it will make an actual stop, where music performers will
sing about 30 minutes of songs for the crowd. If you don't want to
fight with several thousand people, you can stand at any grade crossing
along the way to see the train... and it's quite a site! Canadian
Pacific has done their Holiday Train for 18 years now in an effort to
collect donations and food for local food pantries along the route.
There is no cost to see the train or attend one of the stops/shows, but
it's a nice gesture if you bring some food along or make a donation.
Earlier this month, on December 3rd and 4th, we "chased" the train
between Davenport, Iowa and Dubuque, Iowa
. Kandace Tabern poses with the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train on December 3, 2016, north of Davenport, Iowa
A check presentation to a local food bank during the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Stop in Bellevue, Iowa on December 3, 2016
Performers put on a show for a crowd of thousands of people on December 3, 2016 in Bellevue, Iowa
FRIENDS OF THE 261
NORTH POLE EXPRESS (St. Paul Union Depot, MN)
A fun tradition began in the Twin
Cities back in 2014 with the Friends of the 261's North Pole
Express. The Friends of the 261 has been around since the early
1990's offering various excursions across the Midwest and the United
States with their restored Milwaukee Road steam locomotive. The
organization got in the holiday spirit three years ago with the
creation of the North Pole Express. This is one of the few Holiday
Trains anywhere our area that actually uses a real, working steam
locomotive... making the whole thing that much more special for kids
and passengers of all ages. Rides that take around one hour leave from
St. Paul Union Depot and operate for about one mile on station
trackage. Kids are taken to the "North Pole" where they can look out
their window and see the antics of various elves outside. From there,
Santa boards the train and everyone gets to tell him what they want for
Christmas. Back at the station, passengers are given cookies and hot
chocolate. We volunteered on the Friends of the 261 North Pole Express
back in 2015 and had an amazing time. We were planning to head up there
on December 10th this year, but a snow storm in Chicago caused our
flights to be cancelled. Hope to be back in 2017!
Robert and Kandace Tabern with the North Pole Express train in December 2015; downtown St. Paul, MN is in the background
Santa visits kids on the Friends of the 261 North Pole Express train in December 2015
The Friends of the 261 purchased some old Chicago &
NorthWestern/Metra/VRE bi-level commuter coaches for the North Pole
Express
Another fun Holiday Train tradition
began in 2014 about 200 miles to the south of the Twin Cities. Iowa
Pacific puts on various North Pole Express events around the country,
including in California and Mississippi, but one of the best events in
our opinion is the train they operate outside of Madison, Wisconsin...
if you want to get exact... we are talking about a little-used freight
route between Middleton and Cross Plains, Wisconsin on the far
northwest side of the capital city. The train line is owned by
Wisconsin & Southern, but Iowa Pacific has track rights to operate
the Polar Express. They have the rights from the company who put out
the popular children's book... so you get the full effect with a ride
on this train... as some of the characters come to life. Those who ride
in Diamond Class even get a collectible mug of hot chocolate to take
home with them. We headed out on December 4th of this year to check
this train out for ourselves for the first time and it was worth it.
The special treat this year for the "railfan" in us was the fact Iowa
Pacific pulled some strings to get four Skyline Dome cars off VIA's
Canadian on its runs. They ran with a recently purchased ex-Milwaukee
Road Super Dome. Nothing beats a heavy snow storm, two E-Units,
and 5 dome cars! All Aboard!
Robert Tabern braves the cold and snow on December 4, 2016 to get his picture taken with one of Iowa Pacific's E-Units
Another shot of an Iowa Pacific E-Unit on the Middleton Polar Express Train
What a beautiful shot! 5 Dome Cars in the Snow! The consist
included an ex-Milwaukee Super Dome and four Via Skyline Dome Cars off
the Canadian
SOO LINE 1003 (Hartford, WI)
Let's stay inside the Wisconsin
"Cheddar Curtain" for our next stop -- as we swing east to Hartford,
Wisconsin. The SOO 1003 might be one of the hardest of all five Holiday
Trains to catch, but it is well worth the trip if the time and
schedule allows. The locomotive was built in 1913 by ALCO. It was used
by the Soo Line until retirement in 1954, when it went into serviceable
storage in Gladstone, Michigan as part of the railroad's strategic
reserve. In December 1959, the railroad donated the locomotive to the
city of Superior, Wisconsin, where it was put on public display. In the
mid-1970's, Superior Shortline Steam Railroad was organized to restore
the locomotive to operations. It is currently owned by the Steam
Locomotive Heritage Association and is kept in Hartford, Wisconsin. The
last time we caught up with the SOO 1003 was in December 2008 when it
ran a "Toys for Tots" train through East Central Wisconsin, including
stops in Hartford and Plymouth, Wisconsin. It ran out of serviceable
hours in 2010 and looked like it was going to go back to becoming a
museum piece, but it was restored in 2012 and ran again in 2014.
It made an appearance this year in Hartford, Wisconsin in November. It
usually operates on Wisconsin & Southern Railroad trackage.
Crowds gather in Plymouth, Wisconsin in December 2008 to have their photo taken with SOO 1003
Crows gather at a grade crossing in Hartford, Wisconsin to see SOO 1003 in December 2008
Robert Tabern has his photo taken with SOO 1003 at a Toys for Tots Train Event in December 2008
CTA HOLIDAY TRAIN (Chicago, IL)
If you are planning to head to the
"Windy City" of Chicago during the holidays, you will want to plan on
tracking down the CTA's Holiday Train at some point during your
journey. This train operates over the various Chicago Transit Authority
lines during late November and early December every year. The CTA will
post a schedule a few days in advance and lists what time you will be
able to ride the train. The consist is a regular CTA train,
except it is wrapped in Christmas lights. On select Saturday
departures, Santa rides a flat car on the train and will take pictures
with children during select stops. You are able to ride on this train
at no additional cost than your regular CTA fare. The inside of the
train is also decorated in Christmas lights. There are even "elves"
aboard who pass out candy canes and Christmas music is aired over the
overhead speakers of the train. This is a very popular holiday
tradition in the Chicagoland area and the train can get quite crowded
as we learned when riding on it in December 2015. It's recommended that
you get on at one of the end points and do your riding from there. This
train can often be delayed, too, because of the large crowds that
ride... but it's worth it for some holiday cheer in the city.
.
Kandace Tabern is all bundled up and ready to ride the CTA Holiday Train in December 2015 in Downtown Chicago
A look at the exterior of the decorated CTA Holiday Train
The heavily decorated interior of the CTA Holiday Train, as seen in December 2015
Whether
or not you decided to check out any of these trains, we (Robert &
Kandace Tabern) wish you a very Merry Christmas here in 2016... and
thank you for reading our articles here on TrainWeb. We are going to be
taking a little break from writing articles this winter to head down to
the Virgin Islands and warm up... but look forward to bringing you more
exciting trip reports come Spring 2017. Merry Christmas, again,
and a very happy New Years'!
.
