Every year since 1999, the Canadian Pacific's Holiday Train has plied CP rails between Montreal and the Pacific coast, helping over a hundred towns and cities celebrate the season by supporting their local food bank. At each stop, a boxcar opens up to become the stage for a traveling band. Trailing passenger cars accommodate Santa and his helpers. Performances are free, but guests are asked to bring donations for the local community's food bank. In its first 18 seasons, the train has raised over $143 million and 4 million pounds of food donations.
There are two sections of the Holiday Train, one traveling across southern Canada and the other visiting CP rails in the northern U.S. Our model represents the brightly lit 2009 version, which ranged as far south as Scranton, PA.
Heading the train is a scale model of General Electric's AC4400CW, the same diesel that pulled the prototype. Our twin-motored model features Proto-Speed control for smooth, steady speeds from a crawl to full throttle; remote-controlled Proto-Couplers; LED-Illuminated headlight, number boards, cab interior and holiday lights; variable-intensity ProtoSmoke diesel exhaust; and a full symphony of train sounds, from holiday music to diesel sounds, wailing horn, clanging bell and crew conversations.
