Greetings,

Thought I’d shake some memory chips about Christmas traditions preserved on the nation’s railroads just to see what we could collect…

A friend recently told me that the Reading Company had its own choral society that sang daily in the Philadelphia terminal waiting room during lunch hour. The telegraph relay offices also cut ticker tapes of Christmas related subjects such as Santa Claus, sending them system wide and exchanging with other railroads while the Pennsy gave the best exchanges forwarding material from railroads all about the country.

Curious about what else is out there…

Thanks - Jim K

The Rock Island had a chorus that sang in LaSalle Street Station during the Christmas season. This actually had a "tie" to railroad preservation as Jim Neubauer was a choral member at one time. Jim was a fireman up at Mid-Continent and wrote about his experiences for TRAINS Magazine. He was also a long time trip coordinator for the Railroad Club of Chicago.

Les

I don't think any railroad did better than the B&O. Read here about their famous B&O Holly Tree.

https://cecilcounty.wordpress.com/2013/ ... tradition/

The Reading Company choral society predated my time there, or I would have been part of it. What I do recall hearing from the older guys about the holidays at Reading Terminal is how on one (and possibly more than one) Christmas Eve, the bosses came back from an extended lunch, half loaded, and began passing out pink slips to selected exempt employees whose services were no longer desired. Imagine getting fired on Christmas Eve! Ebenezer Scrooge at his worst apparently had nothing on these guys. Life on the railroad was just as tough and uncertain for office staff as it was for the blue collar workers.

/s/ Larry
Lawrence G. Lovejoy, P.E.

Not sure how long it was a tradition, but Canadian National Railways passenger department used to have delicious plum puddings. I think they were made in their commissary in Montreal. They were a staple in dining and cafe cars during the Christmas Season and you could buy them in tins. They were around in the 70s still. CNR was still pro-passenger and had some good people like Pierre Delagrave, Garth Campbell, Keith Hunt and others who worked hard to keep the passenger services going strong.

A friend told me that the CNJ usually set up a Christmas display in the Jersey City terminal.

Jim K

I also understand the PRR had a choir that would sing in the various stations around Christmas time.

Railroad management ran as many extra freights as they could on the agreement holidays since extra men did not get the time and a half holiday pay.

The Canadian Holiday Train has traveled across portions of Canada and the United States for the past 17 years. Its traveling light show of Christmas decorations and concerts raises holiday’s spirits as well as money and food for local food banks in the communities it visits.

http://www.cpr.ca/holiday-train/united-states