The 2023 CP Holiday Train

I’ve photographed the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train several times over the past dozen years. This year I decided to photograph it “across the border”, at Ingolf, Ontario.

I was in Ingolf this summer for the first time, after I walked part of the Mantario Trail on my quest to see Manitoba’s only railway tunnel. Ingolf is not reachable by road from Ontario, only from Manitoba, and it is a pretty small town. Many people have cabins or camps nearby and Ingolf provides amenities like a hotel, liquor store, and so forth.

I was surprised at how many people came out to see the Holiday Train in Ingolf. There were at least a hundred people there if not more. The town had opened their fire hall and were serving free hot dogs, Christmas cookies and other treats, and coffee and hot chocolate. Since I have celiac disease and can’t have gluten, I wasn’t able to partake but a lot of people were enjoying that.

The train was a little late arriving but people didn’t seem to mind too much. The kids in front of my tripod were having fun playing in the snow and the temperature was just below zero Celsius, so it wasn’t unpleasant to stand outside.

One fellow flew a drone over our heads to document the train’s arrival. I had my drone with me but I didn’t want to fly it over people – against the rules.

The side of the boxcar dropped and the first performers – the Anyway Gang – started rocking out.

I went back to my car and fetched my drone, and flew it near the head end of the train, away from the crowd. This was not my first time flying the drone at night, but I had little experience with this. It turned out OK.

It helps that the train is very bright.

I ran into three young Winnipeg-area railfans when I was there. They said they chased it from Kenora, Ontario. Ambitious!

I packed up and departed before the train did. My plan was to catch the train “en route” at Telford, Manitoba where the track is quite close to the road. I ended up being stuck behind someone driving quite slowly on the road. I couldn’t really blame them; it was very dark and the road is twisty and narrow, with no shoulders. I wasn’t willing to risk passing them so we trundled along until I reached Telford.

The three young railfans were already there and set up. I hastily slapped down my tripod as I could already hear the train approaching. My photo was terrible 🙂

I guess I am not a “run and gun” night photographer. I take a long time to get set up…

Outside Whitemouth, I stopped to try another “en route” photo, and again the three railfans were already set up. Great minds think alike… my photos were better but not worth sharing.

I was under a bit of a time constraint so I couldn’t spend much time in Whitemouth. I elected to photograph the “non crowd” side of the train.

There was quite a crowd out to see the train in Whitemouth. I photographed it there in 2018.

Thank you to Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) for running their 25th Holiday Train, to support local food banks. Please consider donating food or money to your own local food bank. We donate monthly to Harvest Manitoba and the Christmas Cheer Board of Greater Winnipeg.

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