The Metra Holiday Train

[@adambuesser6264]

I wish every city had a holiday commuter train ride for the family. Just like this.

[@history_leisure]

New York is the only other one I can think of that does anything similar (maybe NJT did something this year?)

[@tylerkochman1007]

I wish every sizable city had commuter trains (period). And quality train services at that.

[@baseballfan99]

In the UK all we got for Christmas was strikes and fare rises. Looks like Metra did an amazing job.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Fantastic! They really went all out with the decorations and such great value. Big kid Thom definitely enjoyed it too 🎅🎄😂

[@SchneiderGeorge]

Your videos always entertain...and this one more than usual. I'm way too old to appreciate the crowds in person, but your videos put me right in the middle of the scene. Thank you so much!

[@IamTheHolypumpkin]

It's kinda adorable how much work a public transit agency put into a x-mas train. A lot of love and care when into it.

[@Thom-TRA]

And so much joy among the staff too!

[@Joeyjoey53]

Great to see my hometown of Chicago and the commuter lines decorated for Christmas. Thanks Thom for a great video and Merry Christmas 🎄🌙🎅🏻🧑🏻‍🎄🌲

[@Thom-TRA]

Merry Christmas to you too!

[@jameskerner7782]

Although I'm watching this in a snowless New Jersey (BOOOO!) I like this!!

[@londonwhaley8690]

I enjoy the video👍👍

[@tylerkochman1007]

They already have a planned refurbishment of the station. Which is great. Sadly, though, it seems they might lose the Paris metro style entrance. They are relocating the entrance, and its future seems uncertain.

[@Thom-TRA]

I’m very sad about the Parisian entrance leaving

[@EmilePoelman]

That was fun! Thanks. And Merry Christmas to you all 🎄

[@Thom-TRA]

Vrolijk kerstfeest en een gelukkig nieuw jaar!

[@EmilePoelman]

🎄

[@pinchy08]

That Metra Electric holiday train reminds me of how an organization called Operation North Pole would charter an entire Metra commuter train for a Christmas theme ride specifically for children in battle with terminal life threatening illnesses. The train would travel from Des Plaines to Crystal Lake and back. A modern Polar Express. I imagine ONP had to temporarily stop chartering trains because of the pandemic. I hope they do it again soon for the sake of kids sick in the hospital. Battling terminal life threatening illnesses. Model train manufacturer Kato made N scale models of those ONP trains that happened from 2015 to 2019.

[@theconceptualist8626]

Chicago does their holiday trains right! Take a page from their book, Metrolink! 😂

[@joshuacoleman3414]

I love the teenagers correction part.. 🤣🤣🤣

[@Thom-TRA]

They’ll always be my baby sisters :)

[@dishsoap1]

The holiday train this year is decorated even better

[@Trainsaregreat365]

I noticed a Kato mp36ph locomotive just like mine

[@robinrussell7965]

Van Buren Station? I did not know about this place. The dingy yellow led lights are a nice touch. PS The holiday train is awesome. Chicago really knows how to do Christmas.

[@Bigtflies321]

I just took the Amtrak for a round trip from Champaign to Chicago and back tonight. Great and easy day trip without the hassle of parking. Thankful I have Amtrak in Illinois . Started the day with the Saluki and ended with the New Orleans

[@Thom-TRA]

I love taking Amtrak too! Thanks for sharing

[@danielsalazar1269]

You’re low key living the life I wanted to live this Christmas 😂 thanks for the feed

[@chrisdobrowolski2783]

The Coaster in San Diego does also a few Christmas trains like the 1rst 2 weekends in December. Several years ago I got to ride the Christmas train for free and they had to catch the Grinch you is the bed guy and take it away so I saw the Grinch getting caught in put in a jail car.

[@ck4426]

Your videos are always great, and they just keep getting better!!! This one was particularly delightful and now I wish I had gone to ride. Your video was the next best thing to being there!!! Thank you!!!

[@TheChronozShow]

I think I'm totally getting my tickets first thing tomorrow morning

[@Thom-TRA]

And they're doing it on 5 different lines this year!

[@tyhik9338]

Caution the doors are about to close, gotta love that feature Lol

[@Thom-TRA]

I love it too

[@anthonywarrener1881]

What a great train ride ! So glad to see Lindsey and some of your family taking part, which looked real fun ! Also good to see some freight activity, which for me is always “awesome” in Chicago! I look forward to your next Christmas train ride, and in case I don’t see it before the holiday, a very happy Christmas and new year to you both.

[@Thom-TRA]

Merry Christmas and happy new year to you too! I always enjoy reading your responses :)

[@ThomasEide3318]

Transit planners on the naughty list very true!

[@cameronroberts2961]

I didn't know that metra did a holiday train, now this is amazing great footage, and you handle that a**h@@- perfectly.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thank you! And remind me who you’re talking about at the end, I seem to have forgotten 😂

[@cameronroberts2961]

The guy that yelled at you when you arrived to millennium station.

[@Thom-TRA]

@@cameronroberts2961 ohhh haha thanks!

[@DC4260Productions]

Those Highliner 2s seem to have the loudest bells I've heard from an American train (would be nicer if they weren't e-bells). As for the Holiday Train set-up, it looks good with all those decorations, in stark contrast to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway's event here in New Zealand, where all they've done is dress up a station and cover two locomotives and nine coaches in Christmas Lights. I must say I find it odd that Metra dressed up two of their electric units as the Holiday Train. I'd have thought they would use an F40PHM-3 and Gallery cars on the BNSF line, or something of that nature.

[@tylerkochman1007]

I had no idea there was an onboard mag. Is that true for the UP North? Where is the rack to get it from?

[@Thom-TRA]

I’ve seen it in most lines

[@LinnyUwU]

are we just going to say goodbye to the entrance or the station itself??

[@Thom-TRA]

Just the entrance

[@LinnyUwU]

@@Thom-TRA oh phew

[@UFOWIS]

i just stumbled upon your channel for the first time. love your videos. i love how you are so calm, and have moments to just listen to the sounds. i'm up in Kenosha, and me and my fiance will take the metra down for a weekend coming up. i'm so excited to go on a train!

[@Thom-TRA]

I’m glad you enjoyed the content! Always nice to hear. Have fun in Chicago! I’m hoping to make my way up to Kenosha someday soon to ride the streetcar.

[@UFOWIS]

Thank you! I look forward to your video on the Kenosha Streetcar. It goes in a loop so it isn't very long of a ride, as you know, but it's a good working museum piece. During the Fourth of July, rides are free, and the cars get jam-packed! Also, more fun-fact, the old Chicago - Milwaukee rail line that used to go through has been made into a bike trail that cuts through a chunk of Kenosha, and up through to Racine. There's a historical marker/placard at the start.