An approximately 1,000-foot train with LED lights is rolling back through Missouri this month, and for the first time ever, it's stopping in Blue Springs. The CPKC Holiday Train is scheduled to pull into Chillicothe on Nov. 25, then hit Blue Springs and Kansas City's Union Station on Nov. 27, bringing free concerts and a call for food-bank donations to all three stops.
Three Missouri Stops, Two Afternoons and an Evening
According to FOX 4 Kansas City, the train is returning to Kansas City and will stop in Blue Springs for the first time as it works its way through the metro. The Chillicothe stop comes first, scheduled for 3 to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 25 at U.S. Business 36 and Harvester Road, in a parking lot in the southeastern part of town, according to Operation Lifesaver. Two days later, the train is set to stop in Blue Springs from 1:30 to 2 p.m. at 1201 W. Main Street, before finishing the day in Kansas City at Union Station from 6 to 6:45 p.m., per the same Operation Lifesaver schedule.
Each stop features a free concert from MAGIC! and Maris, according to the CPKC route schedule. Blue Springs is one of 10 communities getting a first-ever Holiday Train visit this year, as the train visits 182 communities across Canada and the United States.
Donations Head to Local Food Banks
The Holiday Train has long doubled as a rolling food drive, and this year is no different. The Kansas City metro visit will benefit Harvesters Food Network, per FOX 4's reporting, while donations collected at the Chillicothe stop will go to the House of Prayer Food Bank, according to KTTN. Visitors at all three stops are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item or make a monetary donation to support local families in need.
Since 1999, the Holiday Train has collected more than $28.3 million and over 5.6 million pounds of food for community food banks across both countries. It's a tradition CPKC — the company formed from the combination of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern in 2023 — has leaned into every holiday season.
A Long Route Through the Midwest
This year's U.S. Holiday Train schedule runs from Nov. 19 through Dec. 20, with the overall tour kicking off in Montreal on Nov. 19 for a 32-day journey, according to Railpace. The route includes stops in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, KTTN reports, with Missouri hosting four of the tour's earliest stops, including Joplin on Nov. 28, per Operation Lifesaver.
For Blue Springs residents, Friday the 27th marks a new addition to a tradition that's rolled through Kansas City before. Whether the night ends with a few extra dollars for Harvesters or a canned-food donation dropped off along the tracks, organizers are framing the stops the same way they have for years: a brightly lit train, a short concert, and a chance to help neighbors heading into the holidays.
