The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train arrives in Bensenville. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

As the sun started to set over the downtown Bensenville on the late afternoon of Dec. 6, local residents waited eagerly for a train that was unlike anything the village has ever seen.

For the first time in its 20-year history, Canadian Pacific Railroad’s Holiday Train made a stop at the village. It pulled up from the nearby rail yard. And, as the passengers watched with anticipation, a side of a freight car right in the middle lowered, revealing a stage — complete with a fog machine and lights — as Wisconsin rock musician and songwriter Willie Porter and Canadian hard rock band The Trews started playing “Run, Run Rudolf.”

“We’ve been touring around the Midwest for the first time our whole career, and it’s been a trip!” shouted The Trews’ lead singer Colin MacDonald.

But the holiday train wasn’t just there to entertain. The railroad uses the train to bring attention to the food banks along the many towns that line along its tracks — in this case, the Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry. Canadian Pacific itself donated $10,000, and pantry volunteers estimated that local residents donated around 3,000 pounds of food.

Canadian Pacific Railway is one of the eight large-scale “Class I” freight railroad companies that collectively control most of the freight railroad tracks in North America. As the name suggests, most of Canadian Pacific’s tracks are located in Canada, but it also has tracks though significant portion of the Great Lakes region, northwestern United States and parts of the East Coast. In Chicago area, it only owns a few stretches of track outright, but it has the trackage rights to use several passenger and freight lines, including Metra’s two Milwaukee District lines.

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train’s stage car lowers the stage, revealing performers. (Photos by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Canadian Pacific’s Holiday Train launched in 1999 to help food banks in the communities along their tracks raise funds and collect donations. Since then, the holiday trains raised $14.5 million Canadian dollars (approximately $10.8 million U.S.) and gathered 4.3 million pounds of food. This year, it is specifically encouraging residents to donate “heart-healthy” foods — whole grain products, milk and cheese products, canned fruits and vegetables, 100 percent juices, canned meats and fees, low-sodium canned goods and fresh produce.

In a public statement, Keith Creel, the railroad’s President and Chief Executive Officer, expressed appreciation for the Holiday Train, as well as the railroad employees and donors that made it possible.

“It is a privilege for CP to be able to run a program like this and connect with so many communities across our network,” he stated. “I want to personally thank each individual who has made a donation over the past 20 years — your collective efforts have made the Holiday Train a huge success for two decades.”

There are actually two CP Holiday Trains — one that travels through Canada and one that travels primarily through the United States. The U.S. train was made up of nine freight cars, the “stage” car and four passenger cars for the crew, the performers and a few local VIPs who had the tickets.

The Bensenville-Wood Dale Food pantry received a $10,000 donation from the Canadian Pacific Railroad. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

The railroad hires different performers every year. According to its website, Porter and the Trews got on in Chicago on Dec. 2 and continued playing the rest of the way. To mark the 20^th anniversary of the CP Holiday Train, the railroad put together a special 20-song playlist on the Spotify music streaming service that featured artists who performed on the train over the past two decades.

While the U.S. train isn’t a stranger to the Chicago area, the exact stops vary somewhat from year to year. This year, it made a total of five stops in Illinois, stopping in the northern cites of Savanna and Byron, and Kane County’s village of Pingree Grove on Dec. 2 before heading to Iowa and Missouri and looping back toward Bensenville.

The train pulled into the side track located right next to Milwaukee West Line’s main tracks, about two blocks east of the Bensenville train station. By that point, a large crowd already gathered at the parking lot, with many residents dropping off donations at the food pantry tent before heading toward the area where the stage car would stop.

After Potter and The Trews performed a few songs, Andy Cummings, the railroad’s media relations manager, went up to the stage, saying that it was a pleasure to bring the train to Bensenville.

Bensenville residents give donations to the Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

“The reason we do it is that folks like you come out, and you sing and you dance and you make us come back,” he said.

Bensenville Village President Frank DiSimone joined him.

“I’ve done a lot of cool things as the village presidents and this is, by far, the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I’d like to personally thank CP Rail for stopping in Bensenville.”

DiSimone added that Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry has been in the community for 40 years, and he was glad to see it get support.

Jim Hamill, the member of the food pantry’s governing board, was on hand to receive the $10,000 donation. He said that he was impressed by both what the railroad did and the community’s support.

“This is more than we dreamed of, as a food pantry,” he said.

Cummings then brought up a Canadian Pacific Railroad police officer Jesus Ramos, to sing a song with the band. He explained that they don’t usually do something like this, but given the work officers like Ramos do and the fact that Ramos lived in the area, it seemed appropriate.

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train stage car with the LED light designs illuminated. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Potter and The Trews sang a few more songs. As the sun set, the LED lights on the side of the freight cars lit up, revealing colorful Christmas-themed designs. As the musicians performed their final song, the VIPs boarded the train. As the holiday train prepared to depart, Cummings offered one final message to the crowd.

“Thank you for your donations — they really make a difference,” he said. “On behalf of the entire CP family, I wish you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.”

Marine Wiggins and her family have only lived in Bensenville for a year. She said they were glad to come to see the train — and that they hoped it would return next year.

“It was awesome,” she said. “It was very good to [be able to] bring kids after school to see it.”