CP Holiday Train lights up downtown

Bundled up in their warmest clothes against the sub-zero weather, hundreds of people waited in anticipation for the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train's arrival at Sudbury's downtown train station Nov. 29.

Children shouted and pointed as the train, brightly lit with Christmas lights, rounded the corner in the railyard under the Bridge of Nations at around 10 p.m., and came to a stop.

Then the boxcar stage was lowered, and the crowd gathered to listen to performances by Canadian musicians Jim Cuddy, Melanie Doane and Crystal Shawanda. Santa Claus even made an appearance during the short concert.

Nicole Gruber and Gregory Lajeunesse brought their two kids, Ariel, 2, and Grace, 5, to see the train.

While Ariel had fallen asleep in her father's arms long before the train arrived, the parents said their older daughter was excited to see the train.

“I think she'll be interested in it,” Gruber said. “She likes things about Christmas. So all the Christmas lights, she might be happy with it.”

Marianne Michaud of Kapuskasing combined the event with a visit to her nieces, Anneka Lapointe and Alina Michaud.

“I can't wait to see what it looks like,” she said, as she waited for the train to arrive. “It's kind of chilly but it's worth it.”

Twelve-year-old Anneka said she's seen the train once before, and thought it was awesome. “It was pretty nice,” she said. “It was nice and decorated. I like the colours.”

Volunteers with the Sudbury Food Bank were kept busy during the event, as people dropped off both non-perishable food and monetary donations.

The Holiday Train program has raised close to $7.4 million and three million pounds of food for North American food banks since it was started 14 years ago.

“We're doing actually amazing,” said Yolanda Thibeault, a member of the food bank's board of directors.

“We have 36 boxes already collected. We've got wonderful donations coming in. Some people are giving funds. We're really helping out the community. Considering it's so cold out, we've got a great turnout of people.”

One of the people at the event was none other than Mayor Marianne Matichuk. She presented CP with a congratulatory certificate for its efforts to raise food and money for food banks through the Holiday Train program.

She said the event is also a great way to kick off the holiday season. “It's a great event for our city,” Matichuk said.