Holiday Train to Make Stop in Rochester

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will be making a stop here in Rochester on Sunday, December 6, 2015. The train is scheduled to arrive near the Hy-Vee grocery store at Barlow Plaza, off of Civic Center Drive. The train’s arrival time is set for 1:30 p.m. and the program will last from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Holiday Train, here’s what happens. The train pulls into its stop, a band will play an opening song and then a brief presentation will take place involving local food bank officials and other area dignitaries. After the presentation, the band will perform a mix of traditional and modern holiday-themed songs. The entire event lasts about 30 minutes.

The purpose of the Holiday Train is to raise awareness of, and generate donations for, food banks all along its route. Those attending the event are encouraged to give food and/or money to help support efforts to feed those in need in their communities.

According to the Canadian Pacific website, “The Holiday Train is about 1,000 feet in length with 14 brightly decorated rail cars. They are each decorated with hundreds of thousands of technology-leading LED lights and holiday designs.”

Millions of dollars and millions of pounds of food have been collected by the Holiday Train since its initial trip in 1999. Donations here will go to support the Channel One Regional Food Bank.

For those of you unable to attend the event in Rochester, the train will also be making stops in Owatonna, Austin, Winona and Wabasha during the second week of December, as well as other towns in Minnesota. Here’s the complete schedule for the United States leg of the Holiday Train’s 2015 journey, including all its Minnesota stops.

In all, the train will be making stops in New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota, as well as four Canadian provinces.