LEFT: No room for riders on this train! This Amfleet coach is filled to the rafters with do- nated coats, gloves, and blankets for distribu- tion along the way. BELOW: Hundreds turned out to meet the train at each stop. AMANDA OAKES PHOTOS BELOW LEFT: Amtrak’s Beech Grove brings up the markers of the Toys for Tots special at Bainbridge, N.Y. DAN MCCARTHY PHOTO BELOW RIGHT: Some of the Toys for Tots volunteers pose with Santa Claus and the train’s sponsor during the first stop at Bing- hamton. AMANDA OAKES PHOTO
and Delanson. At 10:00 a.m. sharp, conductor Steve Parsons lined the switches, blue flags were removed, and two blasts of the horn by engineer Chance Dreisbach alerted the children that the train was on the move. Kids of all ages cheered in excite- ment as the train pulled towards them, flags whipping in the breeze. Bags of toys had been sorted and marked for the different stops along the way the day be- fore to ensure nothing but a smooth op- eration at every town. One of the most impressive sights was how many donat- ed blankets, coats, mittens and hats filled one of the coaches!
Bainbridge
The volunteers helped Santa and Mrs. Claus hand out donated gifts to the children. Boxes of Freihofer’s cook- ies (a local favorite based in the Albany area) were unloaded from coaches and distributed throughout the crowd. Dunkin Donuts had a special vehicle that travelled to every stop dispensing hot chocolate and Munchkins to those in attendance.
Oneonta
BINGHAMTON to Sunbury
The atmosphere around the train was filled with laughter, smiles and kids excitedly running back to their parents to show off their gifts. Although this same scene replayed itself four more times on Saturday, it was amazing to see how everyone came
To make a donation to the Toys for Tots Foundation, please visit
www.toysfortots.org
NEW YORK ALBANY BINGHAMTON
Schenectady
to Montreal
Delanson 0
Cobleskill
5 MILES ALBANY
Illustration by Otto M. Vondrak. Not all lines shown. Not an official map. ©2014Carstens Publications, Inc.
together to make this day special for the children in each town. Between stops, the pocket streamliner made an impressive sight as it sped through the early winter landscape. Once again, Canadian Pacific, Amtrak, the spon- sors and all of the volunteers did an ex- cellent job once again helping those in need this holiday season.
29
10
15
CP/NS (DH)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66