Christmas holiday train

Sunday night the annual holiday train came to Minot. This is the first year I have gone to see it. The train is run by the Canadian Pacific Railroad and when people come to see the train they are encouraged to bring food to donate to the local food bank. I planned to do so also but unfortunately I forgot the food at home.

I notice the train is being called a "holiday" train now and not a Christmas train as I believe it used to be called years past. Christmas decorations and Santa and his reindeer lights were on the train, and the schedule runs before Christmas, so it seems dumb to avoid using the word "Christmas". Their web site avoids any mention of "Christmas". It seems as if Canadian Pacific is politically correct and afraid of offending someone by using the word: Christmas.

My brother and I went to see the train directly after visiting mom. We arrived just as the lit up train pulled next to the old Soo Line train station at the end of Main Street. The audience - while a decent size - wasn't as large as I expected and have experienced in other cities I have lived where I attended free outdoor musical events. Might be because of the weather; might be because of a more reserved attitude in Minot.

The timing for the train was great: 7:15 pm to 8:15 pm. That meant it was dark and all the better to see the Christmas lights on the train.

The music was great! I didn't realize until I later read their bios that this was not a single band. They pretty much all played as a group, but the "band" was made up of:

• Colin Linden, who played blues guitar and played excellent slide guitar.
• Tracey Brown, on vocals, and
• Ennis - two sisters, one on acoustic guitar and the other on vocals. They had a Irish feel to their music.

The weather was decent: 20s F with a minor breeze. I forgot (notice a pattern here?) my hat and gloves so I got chilly before the night was over. When the musicians played I was in among the crowd so I didn't feel too cold then. And I was distracted by the great music. I did note that everyone in the band wore coats except the drummer. Several guitarists also wore fingerless gloves. It's not easy playing outside in the winter time.



Did I mention that all the women in the band looked hot?

The band played a mixture of traditional Christmas music (i.e. Jingle Bells with the audience singing along including the kids) done in a upbeat rocking style, a religious song, the old Elvis song, "Mystery Train", and an Irish folk song by the Ennis sisters.

The folk song was really good: funny and sharp with the lyrics as Irish songs can be when sang with a twinkle in the eye. The guitar playing sister sang the folk song. I never heard heard her speak, so I don't know if she was affecting or playing up an Irish accent while singing. But the accent added to the song.

The younger Ennis sister told a joke. It was so bad and corny that it was funny, especially as the group worked the punch line into the between song chitchat several times later. When the sister threatened to tell another joke later the audience was quick to dissuade her.

The hour went by really quick. I missed the first few songs by the band as I was walking the length of the train looking at the decorations and taking photos. For part of the train platform near the depot a small wrought iron fence blocked passage. No problem for a guy with long legs to climb over in order to get a better view and better photos.

As I walked back to my brother's pickup after the show, in the shadows, I stepped on a patch of ice created by snow that melted earlier and ran from a drainpipe of the old train depot. Zing! I fell down faster than you could blink. The SUV behind me stopped so as not to run me over. That was nice of them.