2015 Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

For the 17th year, the CPR Holiday Trains are making their way across Canada and the U.S. northeast and mid-west.

The trains started their journey in late November. The Canadian train ends its run Dec. 19 in B.C. The American train also ends its run in Canada, in Alberta on Dec. 18.

Along the way, both brightly-lit trains feature free concerts and accept donations for local food banks.

A great video of this train was made by Dave Hansen when the train was in the Hamilton, Ont. area on Dec. 1. Click here to view it.

Click here to view the schedule, and for more information.

Gloves are Off in CP's Battle for Norfolk Southern

From Canadian Press.

Canadian Pacific Railway has dropped the gloves in its battle to acquire Norfolk Southern after the U.S. railway immediately rejected a revised takeover offer.

The Calgary-based company enlisted the help of activist U.S. investor Bill Ackman to challenge the qualifications of Norfolk Southern CEO James Squires and opened the door to launching a hostile bid if the board of the Virginia company continues to oppose negotiations.

"We are going to work and do everything at our disposal to get this to the shareholders and get a resolution to it," Canadian Pacific chief executive Hunter Harrison said Tuesday during a conference call. "If that calls for a proxy, so be it."

Read more at CTV News.

President's Choice Train Sets Re-Visited

It's always interesting to check the stats for this blog to see what posts are of interest to readers. For the past month, one of the most popular posts has been the one from 2012 about President's Choice train sets.

For those of you who don't know about them, the President's Choice train sets were the brainchild of Boris Polakow, Vice President of Canadian Sales Development for Loblaws (owner of Real Canadian Superstore). 

In 1992, he decided it was time for a quality, affordable train set for kids for Christmas. His colleagues at Loblaws weren’t so sure, but Polakow proved them wrong. 

That first run of 10,000 President’s Choice/PC Express train sets sold out within days of being released before Christmas. It started a tradition that lasted until 2006.

Maybe all the recent interest in the sets is because it is Christmas; maybe people are looking for these classic train sets for kids, or maybe for themselves since the sets are now collectibles.

Whatever the reason, if you are interested in these unique Canadian train sets, click here to read more. 

Rejected: Update on Canadian Pacific, Norfolk Southern Proposed Merger

Norfolk Southern has rejected Canadian Pacific’s $28-billion takeover offer, saying that it is “grossly inadequate, creates substantial regulatory risks and uncertainties that are highly unlikely to be overcome, and is not in the best interest of the company and its shareholders."

The notice of rejection went on to say that “we believe that Canadian Pacific’s short-term, cut-to-the-bone strategy could cause Norfolk Southern to lose substantial revenues from our service-sensitive customer base,” and will “risks harm to vital transportation infrastructure and the communities we serve.”

Harrison replied that CP would now need to increase its offer to win Norfolk Southern’s consent. 

Of course, this is probably all negotiating bluster: Never accept the first offer, and all that. We'll see how it plays out.

Click here for my Q & A on the proposed merger.

Photo from the Travis DeWitz collection.

Open House for Our Home & Miniature Land

Our Home & Miniature Land, the new interactive model railroad exhibit in Mississauga, Ontario, held its open house in October.

The brainchild of Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, the exhibit will showcase Canada from coast-to-coast.

When completed in 2017 (Canada’s 150th anniversary), it will feature 20 exhibits, tied together by HO scale railway tracks.

Right now, the builders are working on the Ontario sections (Toronto and Hamilton). This includes a scale replica of the CN Tower that is three metres (nine feet) high, an exact model of the Rogers Centre (where the Blue Jays play), Toronto’s Union Station, the Air Canada Centre (where the Leafs play), and the Toronto downtown.

The goal of Our Home & Miniature Land is to help visitors explore, experience and learn about Canadian life, geography, history and industry.

A few facts and figures:

* 370 square metres (4,000 square feet) of floor space

* 1,460 metres (4,790 feet) of track

* 385 turnouts

* 3 helixes

* 30,000 hours of labour to date

* 10,000 individual figures for ACC and Rogers Centre

Read my previous post about Our Home and Miniature Land. And thanks to Model Railroad Info Guy for some of the photos.