Caption: With a little over a week to go, we are all reminded of an event that will be virtual come mid-December. Thanks to the current pandemic, we will all miss seeing the Holiday Train. However, as COVID will in time become a memory, I am thankful for this event as I have met some interesting people.

Enter Mr. Rogers Humphrey Rogers that is. Not to be confused with the beloved TV personality, but oddly enough was on the other side of the tracks where his childhood neighborhood used to be. He remembers seeing various trains, as well as meeting all kinds of people that used to embark or disembark at the CP's station. Or, like the team he met most of the Red Wings, from the Original 6 era...players like Red Kelly, Gordie Howe, and 'Terrible' Ted Lindsay. Back when teams traveled by train between all six NHL cities, and the players would gift an interested young lad with a piece of memorabilia. In Mr. Roger's case, it was an autographed stick, as the train had a bit of a wait at Tilbury while en route to Union Station in Toronto for a game against the Maple Leafs.

And he remembers the day that the station was removed at Tilbury, as well as his old stomping grounds being removed one bit at a time that made way for what is now the Industrial Park. But most interestingly, he remembers his fond years working for the Canadian Pacific, and just how much things have changed. It certainly made for some interesting conversation, since the Holiday Train was delayed on its journey out of Chatham because of a late CP 140. But I am happy to have had this once in a lifetime experience, speaking with a true railway employee, and capturing the friendly wave of one generation to another of railroaders.