Advent Calendar Day 3: Holiday Train

Jason was the one to open day 3 of the Advent Calendar. This one we had planned since last year. We were actually lucky that it worked out.

Last year we read about the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. Unfortunately, the timing was bad for us as the train was close to us the weekend of Em’s brother’s wedding. When we looked it up for this year, we only saw one scheduled stop for Illinois. It was for December 3^rd in Gurnee. We decided to make sure we got to it this year.

All day the kids wondered what it would be like. Since we had never seen it ourselves, we didn’t know for sure. We’d seen photos showing a stage and music show going on and the train covered with lights. After an early dinner, we loaded up the van and headed up. There was a decent crowd for the event. I dropped everyone off and went to park. We went under a bridge and up a walkway to a field where a tent had been put up. There was a rescue truck parked on the street for the kids to look at and climb in.

We found a place to settle and wait for the train to come. There was much excitement when they heard the horn sounding. The sight of the train was met with cheers and joyous shouts! There was near shock when they heard music playing from one of the cars. It took a while for them to finalize the setup and open the stage, but that also received great accolades! Daniel said, “I’ve never seen a rock n roll show in a box car before!”

Jason soon wanted to move away from the loud noise of the concert, so we walked around and looked more at the train. We ended up walking toward the engine. There was a path that people were following and so we joined in. We were allowed to go right up to the engine, but not on the ballast of the track. From there we got the photo above.

We walked back the other way and heard the concert wrapping up. We stood by the fence and watched the train roll away with Santa Clause standing on the back platform waving. From there it was back to the van and the drive home. The kids really enjoyed the CP Holiday Train. We may have to make this an annual event, as long as the train comes close enough.