Eastern Railroad Discussion > CP Christmas Train in Indiana on NS?

I heard through the grapevine that the CP Christmas Train will run through Indiana (mostly on the Chicago Line) but the christmas lights will not be turned on. Reportedly, NS doesn't want to attract attention for fear it will attract trespassers and creat a liability. Having said that, the train reportedly will pass through the area at a time when most folks will be in bed. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/18 19:57 by wabash2800.

It will be up to the discretion of the train crew once they leave Customs.
NS has said they do not have any say whether lights will be on or off.

Posted from iPhone

In the past, the train has passed through Whiting, IN, in the early morning hours with the lights on. I never felt like getting out of a warm bed into the cold night to see the train go by, but friends did, and they shot some video footage. I never heard of any problems related to the train, but that doesn't mean that there weren't any. 

Again, just attempting to confirm or deny it.  It is something that is being passed around. In the past there were rumors floated here like the UP train to the East, etc., that turned out to have a basis. And yes, I qualified it.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Based on the discussion on another site, the problems have been in Michigan where the train passes through at a more reasonable hour. Plenty of people letting their stupidity show and ruining the fun for the rest of the world.

This year's map has a gap between Windsor and Chicago.

Windsor
2018-11-30 Arrive 5:20 PM - Event 6:00 PM-6:30 PM
Pingree Cove IL
2018-12-2 Arrive 9:45 AM - Event 10:00 AM - 10:30 PM

The FAQ on their website states:Are the lights on the whole time?Each Holiday Train is about 1,000 feet in length with 14 brightly decorated rail cars. The cars are decorated with hundreds of thousands of technology-leading LED lights and holiday designs celebrating the spirit of the giving season.When the U.S. Holiday Train clears U.S. customs, we turn the exterior lights off. Otherwise, the Holiday Train lights are always on.    
 

Thanks for your reply. It sounds like the lights will be out in the U.S. while the train is in motion.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Someone asked on the NS FB page why they wouldn't allow the CP train to operate with the lights on.  The official NS account responded they had not made such a request.

The whole issue is because of the UP 844 incident over the summer.

I used to be involved in a food drive in Allen Park, MI (south side Detroit) that was centered around the Holiday Train since it didn't stop in Detroit, a city that desperately needs food drives for the poor and destitute. The food drive started out small, but over the next few years we had over 5,000 people coming out to see the train and donate food. But it didn't stop there. Towns along the train's path also started seeing crowds of people coming out to the nearest tracks just to see it roll by because they couldn't make it to the food drive. That's a lot of people and it attracted the attention of the CPHT to the point that my group has been in regular contact with them ever since. Unfortunately, we did have issues with keeping people off the tracks despite our best efforts to gate off the tracks with the help of Norfolk Southern Police and local law enforcement. And the 844 incident is just the latest incident to prove that these special events are not incident free.

The primary issue is that John Q. Public isn't as rail smart as railfans. They wander onto the tracks, they place coins on the rails, etcetera, etcetera. To add to this, the train is running at night between Detroit and Chicago and is on busy freight mainlines owned by NS. Combine the two conditions and you're primed for an incident to happen because people were either ignorant, too impatient or too careless when the train got close to them. And CP wants to make sure the public is safe during this time of the year. That's the sad but true story of the decision to turn the lights off.

Lights were on in Northern Indiana ... then again, it passed downtown Elkhart at 4am local time - so only about a dozen people waiting for it there (plus others along the route).

Maybe some reverse psychology worked? <G> ... or all the naysayers didn't have good info or based the outcome on their opinion?
Victor A. Baird

http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
justalurker66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lights were on in Northern Indiana ... then again,
> it passed downtown Elkhart at 4am local time - so
> only about a dozen people waiting for it there
> (plus others along the route).

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe some reverse psychology worked? ... or all
> the naysayers didn't have good info or based the
> outcome on their opinion?
> Victor A. Baird
>
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
> justalurker66 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Lights were on in Northern Indiana ... then
> again,
> > it passed downtown Elkhart at 4am local time -
> so
> > only about a dozen people waiting for it there
> > (plus others along the route).

Based on what I understand, the plan was to turn the lights off, confirmed via scanner chatter and an onboard contact, but the decision was changed last minute.

Were the lights off for any portion of the trip?  CP website said the lights would be turned off after clearing customs. The website didn't say they would not be restored before the event Sunday morning. I have not seen any reports of the lights being off.