Monday, December 01, 2008

The Holiday Train

Would you like to support the local Salvation Army food drive and be entertained at the same time? Show up this evening with some non-perishable food items or cash or both and enjoy the CPR Holiday Train as it makes its stop in Bowmanville. The beautifully decorated train makes visits to communities from Montreal to B.C. and Bowmanville has been an enthusiastic supporter of this relatively recent tradition. Each year a box car opens its doors and the gathered crowd is entertained by excellent musicians.

Two years ago the train was not scheduled for this community but people gathered at the usual corner of Scugog and Wellington just the same. We were in bed for the night and noticed an annoyingly protracted train whistle. I put up the blind to see the lights of the Holiday Train stretched across the Bowmanville Creek trestle. The engineer had decided to reward the faithful few with a quick stop.

The schedule lists Bowmanville for 9:15 to 9:30. It's difficult to get parking, but our driveway could accomodate a few extra cars. Make sure you are on the south side of the tracks or you will miss the show. For the more distant and out-of-province readers I suppose I could pick you up at the airport... http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/english/general+public/holiday+train/schedules/ont+-+quebec.htm

3 comments:

Laura said...

As Ruth said.."magical". Glad that we made the effort. Despite the early day rain/sleet, the warm evening was a bonus, and the cause so worthy.

David Mundy said...

It was good to see lots of St.Paul's folk at the corner of Scugog and Wellington, not to mention the cast of thousands who marched across Nancy and Joe's lawn!

I was behind an adorable little one who smiled and clapped to the music. We hurried home at the end to watch the train depart from our bedroom window. Well, we watched from our window and the train was on the tracks...

Nancy said...

Magical it was. Joe is working on a plan for next year to stop trespassers...:) We were happy to have such a great evening unfold on our front lawn.