Holiday train to chug into Austin

Published 6:25 am Monday, December 7, 2009

It’s not the Polar Express, but a Christmas show plans to chug through town Dec. 10.

The 11th annual Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will pass through Austin on Thursday at 11:45 a.m. near the recycling center by the Eighth Ave. NE crossing.

The train’s 14 cars are all decorated and lit for the holidays. The 1,000-foot train features a stage where Prescott and Adam Puddington will perform with special guests Shaun Verreault and Willy Porter.

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Other entertainers will also perform.

The performances serve as a food drive and raises awareness, money and, of course, food for food drives in the U.S. and Canada. The holiday train program has raised $4 million and 2 million pounds of food with the Holiday Train program.

The holiday train’s maiden trip in Canada partnered with the National Food sharing program in 1999. A second train joined in 2001 to travel parts of the U.S.

People attending the show are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items or money to fight hunger.

The holiday train’s goal is to collect food and money for local food banks and to raise awareness in the fight against hunger.

On Monday, the train is scheduled to stop in Rochester from 12:45-1:15 p.m., Owatonna from 4:45-5:15 p.m. and Waseca from 7:15-7:45 p.m.

A full schedule of the train’s stops can be found at www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/General+Public/Holiday+Train/default.htm.