#holiday train

[urbs-in-horto]

Holiday train 1st run, from r/chicago

[nicksucio]

intricate details of the miniature trains and cityscape at the New York Transit Museum Holiday Train Show, where tiny railcars wind through scaled-down New York landmarks. The display inside Grand Central Terminal invites guests to slow down and appreciate the craftsmanship and nostalgia of model railroading

January 2026

Taken on Papershoot Camera

[savagebeautyqueen]

CTA Holiday Train; Chicago Transit Authority

[dopescissorscashwagon]

"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup". Maybe this is the reason we haven't seen the CTA Elves Workshop Train riding the rails in Chicago in several years. Not the best diet! :)

📸 by @barrybutler9

[aryburn-trains]

The KCS Holiday Express idles at CP Greenville on a pristine November afternoon, awaiting the call to move to downtown for display later in the evening. The 2012 train shown here would go on to host 66,200 visitors in 22 communities and raise over $107,000 to purchase gift cards that were donated to the Salvation Army for children in need during the Christmas season. November 24, 2012

[chaddavisphotography]

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Holiday Train in St. Louis Park, Minnesota on December 11, 2023. The rail company says they’ve raised more than $22.5 million dollars and 5 million pounds of food for local food banks since the tradition began 25 years ago.

[donnatroyprincessofthemyscira]

[copperbadge]

CTA Holiday Train & Bus - CTA

Find information on this year's holiday train and bus, including travel tips, photos with Santa, and detailed schedules for when they'll be in your part of town!

THE HOLIDAY TRAIN IS COOOOOOMING

The Chicago “Holiday Train” is a special train (there are also Holiday Buses) that runs only in December and only a few times a week, with pre-set schedules (linked above). The train is decorated outside with lots of lights, and inside with candy cane stripes on the poles and funny posters and such. It’s staffed with an “elf” in each car who hands out free mini candy canes, although I don’t know if that’s been discontinued since the pandemic. On the last or second-to-last car, they remove the actual car and replace it with a platform that has a sleigh with an actor playing Santa in it, so if your kids want to see Santa you can stand near the end of the platform and he’ll wave and say hello as the train stops for people to board.

If you aren’t expecting the Holiday Train and happen to catch it, which has happened to me before, it’s just kind of a delightful surprise. But since the schedule is posted ahead of time it’s also a popular event for parents to take kids on, and watching a kid watch the holiday train pull into the station is truly a remarkable experience.