Just two more sleeps (or maybe one for the little ones who are already asleep) until our first Santa train this coming Saturday, December 3. We have sold nearly 1400 tickets for our popular Santa Trains. Our trains are sold out this year. There are no further tickets left. Thanks for your support!

If you are lucky enough to have a ticket, a few things before you arrive:
1. Please bring a copy of your electronic ticket with you to the station. You will exchange this for a paper ticket for our friendly conductor to punch on board.

2. Please plan to arrive 30 minutes before your planned departure time. This will allow enough time to park, collect your tickets, and use our station washroom. Boarding will begin 15 minutes prior to our departure. (We do have two washrooms on board for little bladders, but they may be a little chilly). Our trains will leave sharply on the published hour of departure.

3. Our train cars are heated but they may not be warm enough for short sleeves and other light clothing. Children will likely be comfortable wearing a coat, sweater, long pants and a warm pair of shoes. Please dress according to the weather.

4. Please plan to leave strollers and large bags in your cars. The train will leave and return to our Waterloo station without stopping in St. Jacobs or at the market.

5. Since these trains are popular, every seat has been sold. Small people without tickets will need to sit on an adult’s lap for the trip. As well, in the spirit of heritage train travel, you may find yourself sitting with members of another party.

6. We all want a white Christmas, just not on a train day. Trains will depart regardless of the weather. In the event that a given train must be canceled due to the weather, the information will be posted at www.waterloocentralrailway.com as soon as possible after the decision has been made.

7. Finally, as with all our trains, equipment and schedule subject to change without notice.

If you have misplaced your electronic ticket, we can re-send your ticket. We will also have a list of attendees for each train at the station for those forgetful parents who accidentally leave the tickets at home.

Beyond that, we look forward to seeing you all on board this Christmas season!

Tickets were on sale via GuestList.

Why stand in line at the mall? Spend some time with the Waterloo Central Railway as we roll through the City and countryside.

Santa will visit each child at their seat. While they wait, our guests will enjoy hot drinks and cookies as they get a chance to sing along to their favourite carols.

Prices:

$15+$1.95HST per person. Children two and under do not require a ticket, but in the event that the train is well-attended, they may be required to sit on an adult’s lap.

All tickets are rush seating and our seats are in banks of four. In the spirit of historical train travel, if the train is well-attended, you may be asked to share you bank with another party.

Dates:

Santa will be on board for the first three weekends in December

12:00, Saturday, December 3
12:00, Sunday, December 4
12:00 and 2:00, Saturday, December 10
12:00 and 2:00, Sunday, December 11
12:00 and 2:00, Saturday, December 17
12:00 and 2:00, Sunday, December 18

Trains depart sharply on the hours note above. Boarding will begin approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure. The train trip will last about 75 minutes depending on the number of children on board. The train will not arrive back in Waterloo before all children have been visited.

Weather Policy:

We all want a white Christmas, just not on a train day. Trains will depart regardless of the weather. In the event that a given train must be canceled due to the weather, the information will be posted at www.waterloocentralrailway.com as soon as possible after the decision has been made.

Equipment and schedule subject to change without notice.

Tickets sold out!

Tickets were on sale via GuestList.

There are no further tickets for sale this year. If you have questions about our Santa Trains, please fill out the form below:

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Can I still buy a WagJag voucher?

No. After one week the WagJag campaign ended.

I have a WagJag voucher. Can I still use it?

Yes. WagJag vouchers are valid until October 29, 2011.

Will the train run out of seats?

Not likely! Our train can seat up to 150 comfortably per trip. In a pinch, we have seated 225 as long as passengers are willing to be friendly and possibly sit with someone that they don’t know.

How to the tickets work? Do I have to pick a specific time?

Our tickets are sold as open return tickets. This means that while you purchase a ticket for a specific date, you are welcome to board the train at any of our stations or stops. You may then get off at another station and catch a later trip to complete your trip.

Many people will board the 10:00 train in Waterloo to ride to the Market. They will then catch the next train, departing the Market at 12:25 and ride all the way to St. Jacobs, arriving at 12:45. They will then spend the afternoon in St. Jacobs and return to Waterloo on the 3:00 departure from St. Jacobs and arrive in Waterloo at 3:45. All for the price of one round trip ticket!

I can’t find the date I want. When does the train run?

Our trains run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays departing Waterloo at 10:00, 12:00 and 2:00. We have not yet posted all of our tickets online for sale but will do so in the coming weeks. Our Tuesday trains stop running on August 30, our Thursday trains stop running on October 13 and our last Saturday train is October 29. This WagJag can be used on any regular train until October 29. Tickets may also be purchased in person at our Waterloo Station, located at 10 Father David Bauer Drive.

Can I use this WagJag for 3 Child’s tickets instead of 2 Adult tickets?

Yes! In this case, the accompanying adult would pay full fare and the children would use the WagJag. Unaccompanied children are made into volunteers. Also keep in mind that children under three (but not three and over) ride for free anyways.

I have my WagJag voucher, now what?

Please bring your WagJag voucher to one of our stations or stops. The volunteers or staff will exchange your voucher for the appropriate number of tickets. The original WagJag was for 1 paying adult and 1 adult riding free. Because we’re feeling giddy, we are also accepting offers of 1 paying adult and 1 ticket of an equal or lesser value riding free. Or, as I said above, 3 children fares for $15.

How do I buy tickets online? Is there a coupon code?

At this time we cannot process coupon codes online (we will speak harshly to our web team about that oversight. Beatings may or may not be meted out with a wet noodle). If you are purchasing an adult ticket and want to get one free ticket, simply purchase 1 ticket online and our staff will give you two tickets when you arrive. We will put our crack team on the children problem and maybe have a solution soon.

Do I have to use both tickets on the same day?

No. Once you have redeemed your WagJag voucher, you are welcome to use the tickets on any regular train in the 2011 season.

Ex-ETR Number 9 in steam during its last boiler ticket.

Steam engine number 9 underwent another internal hydrostatic test on Saturday, June 24. The purpose of this test was to check the corrections made to the boiler and our testing apparatus since the July 9th test and to identify boiler issues that may require corrective action.

The test demonstrated that the new testing apparatus worked well. All the valves on the boiler will need to be plugged for the next test as they are not part of the boiler test. Final, further testing is required to identify the few remaining leaks. Once the leaks are found, a repair plan will be submitted to the TSSA for approval.

Thanks to volunteers Roy Broadbear, Irvon Weber, Manley Johnson and Jim Hornblower for their efforts on Saturday. Roy adds, “Work continues on Number 9. More testing and minor repairs are to be done. We are still hoping for a fall steam up. So far things are looking good.”

By 12:00, the humidity had fallen but the temperature had risen to 37.6 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature recorded for the day was 38.0 degrees Celsius at 2:15.

High temperatures did not prevent passengers from coming out to ride the train, but by 12:00 passengers were feeling the heat and they headed home for some cool relief.

Steel Rails is a collaborative art event, held on the Waterloo-St Jacobs train line and hosted by Hilary Abel at RQMagazine.com

The Huckleberry Team had these great things to say about the event:

A don’t miss event, where tickets sell out fast, it’s an inspirational ride where art, happiness, and collaboration meet.

Huckleberry was there, enjoying being part of another #kwawesome event. Hope to see you there next year!!

Steel Rail Sessions 2011 from Huckleberry Film-Studios on Vimeo.

Philip Bast’s Video
*Warning: partial nudity, this was an art train after all*

The hippest party in town, hands down: it’s the second annual Steel Rail Sessions event aboard the Waterloo Central Railway, with 350 culture buffs experiencing art on the move, from Waterloo to St. Jacobs and back again.

Five main acts: the train ride, the locomotive shop, a Dixie band courtesy The Jazz Room, the Girly show and the denouement under the Swounds exhibit in The Clay & Glass gallery.

Contributing artists include: makebright, CAFKA’s Johannes Zits, Theatre on the Edge, Machteld Faas Xander, Christine Reid Photography, Heat Cuisine, The Girly Show, and soundtrack by The Shop Collective and The Jazz Room.

Cinematographer: Philip Bast
Panasonic HVX200 handheld

Websites:
RQ Magazine
Waterloo Central Railway
The Clay and Glass
KW Jazz Room
MakeBright
MachteldFassXander
Contemporary Forum
Christine Reid Photography
Tote
Heat Cuisine

Rhonda Lee’s Video
*Warning: partial nudity, this was an art train after all*

Recognize any hands on the train? If you, or someone else you recognize, were on the Steel Rails train, be sure to “autograph” this video by leaving a name(s) in the comments below. (P.S. Yes, those are real snakes on the train!)

Eg. “I saw —- at Steel Rails”, “—– was at Steel Rails – (your name)”

Steel Rail Sessions is a moving art exhibit on a train that was developed by Hilary Abel . . . RQ Magazine . . . and the enterprising efforts of local art and culture aficionados, PLUS a whole posse of talented and fun folks living and loving Kitchener – Waterloo.

Music Credits:
Original Dixieland Jazz Band 1922, Georgia Swing
Creative Commons License: Public Domain

Music Credits:
Original Dixieland Jazz Band 1922 Georgia Swing
Creative Commons License: Public Domain

Rhonda Lee Part 2
*Warning: partial nudity, this was an art train after all*

Recognize any hands on the train? If you, or someone else you recognize, were on the Steel Rails train, be sure to “autograph” this video by leaving a name(s) in the comments below. (P.S. Yes, those are real snakes on the train!)

Eg. “I saw —- at Steel Rails”, “—– was at Steel Rails – (your name)”

Steel Rail Sessions is a moving art exhibit on a train that was developed by Hilary Abel . . . RQ Magazine . . . and the enterprising efforts of local art and culture aficiandos, PLUS a whole posse of talented and fun folks living and loving Kitchener – Waterloo.

Music Credits:
Original Dixieland Jazz Band 1922, Georgia Swing
Creative Commons License: Public Domain

Photo by James Bastow

James Bastow (under the moniker screamingflamingdeath) posted this recent Flickr photoset for our recent Steel Rails Session event. Do you have photos from the event that you would like to share? Contact us!

Steel Rails is the coolest homegrown cirque-du-soleil cross-disciplinary surreal mash-up good time going.

General Manager and engineer for the evening Peter McGough and conductor Brian Craus has spent several spotting sessions making up the train. Any time the train was not moving, the event crew descended on the train to install yet another something. Car 15000 ‘Lord Elgin’ was transformed into a performance space on Wednesday, the silent auction work was hung with care on Thursday, the physics experiment was built in Diner 60504 on Friday morning. Everything else was packed aboard Friday after noon, and then the final push was on at 5:00 to load everything else. Meanwhile, the shop crew was busy clearing the decks for the intermission in St. Jacobs.

The first surprise of the evening came from this conversation while volunteers waited to board passengers:

Participant: Can I get out the other side?

Volunteer: We’d prefer if you got out on the platform.

Participant: I think I lost my snake out the other side. Can we go look for him?

Volunteer: Snake??

When the train arrived back in Waterloo, burlesque dancers greeted disembarking passengers with cotton candy, popcorn and donuts. Ostrich feathers and sequins abounded.

The best recap came from RQ Magazine, the main sponsors, hosts and creative drive behind the event.

With thanks to the volunteer crew who made it possible:

Neal Moogk-Soulis, On Board Service Manager and Steel Rail Liaison
Peter McGough, Engineer
Brian Craus, Conductor, Trainman and Jack of all trades
Ron Manske, On Board Safety
Bruce Storer, On Board Safety
Thomas Storer, On Board Safety
Jesse McLaughlin, On Board Safety and Videographer
Chris Walker, On Board Safety
Danny Allen, On Board Safety
Victor Menhennet, On Board Safety
Barbara Erdman, On Board Safety
Don Broadbear, Shop Crew
Roy Broadbear, Shop Crew