The last time the CPKC Holiday Train pulled into Hermon after dark, town officials estimated that about 8,000 people came out to see it. WABI reported that figure in 2023, and it described the 2022 show, which ran in the evening. The two Hermon stops since then came in the late morning and early afternoon, in full daylight.
This Sunday, November 22, the train is back at the Coldbrook Road crossing, and it is due right at dusk. On CPKC's 2026 schedule, the Hermon event runs from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. According to timeanddate, Bangor's sun sets at 4:00 p.m. that day and civil twilight ends at 4:32 p.m. That puts the show in fading twilight at the start, and civil twilight is over before the last song. For the first time in three Hermon visits, the lights will be the main event again.
Four years at one crossing
Lay Hermon's Holiday Train history out in order and one thing changes from year to year: the clock.
| Year | Date | Scheduled time | What the light was like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Wed., Nov. 23 | 6:00–6:30 p.m. | After dark |
| 2023 | Tue., Nov. 21 | 11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. | Midday |
| 2024 | No Hermon stop | ||
| 2025 | Sat., Nov. 22 | 1:30 p.m. | Early afternoon |
| 2026 | Sun., Nov. 22 | 4:15–4:45 p.m. | Starts 15 minutes after sunset |
The 2022 visit was the train's first-ever stop in Maine, and Hermon shared that tour with Jackman and Brownville. In 2024, WABI's schedule listed only Brownville and Jackman in Maine, so Hermon went a year without a show.
The daylight years still drew people. In WABI's 2023 coverage, one attendee said, "It was so beautiful out today!" and the station noted that the midday slot "didn't keep people from coming out and enjoying the sights and sounds." Still, the only crowd estimate on record for Hermon belongs to the night show.
Sunday afternoon sits between Jackman and Greenville
The time comes from the route. This year all three Maine stops fall on one weekend, and the train works through them in order:
- Jackman, 4 Walton Street, Saturday, Nov. 21, 7:45 to 8:15 p.m.
- Hermon, Coldbrook Road railway crossing between Autocar Lane and Dave's Way, Sunday, Nov. 22, 4:15 to 4:45 p.m.
- Greenville, Greenville Junction Depot, 25 Rockwood Road, Sunday, Nov. 22, 9:00 to 9:30 p.m.
From Greenville the schedule crosses into Quebec, with a stop in Lac-Mégantic at noon on Monday. Hermon is the middle stop of the Maine leg, and it falls on a Sunday. The earlier years landed on a Wednesday, a Tuesday and a Saturday. American Authors and Rafaëlle Roy perform at all three Maine stops.
A 4:15 start on the Sunday before Thanksgiving also means the show is over before most supper tables are set.
What a dusk crowd means at a business-park crossing
The Coldbrook Road crossing isn't a town green. It's a rail crossing beside Coldbrook Business Park, and the 2022 crowd gave the town a working plan for filling it.
For that first evening show, town officials told WABI that parking would run through Autocar Lane off Coldbrook Road. They also said some streets would be partly closed with temporary no-parking zones, and that Dave's Way would be pedestrian-only from Printers Drive to Coldbrook Road. Scott Perkins of the town gave this advice in the same report:
"Park anywhere in Coldbrook Business Park, then you can come up to the stage area and enjoy the show."
He asked people to be at the stage area 15 minutes before the train's arrival "at the latest." That was 2022. The stage location has shifted since then: the 2022 crossing was on Dave's Way between Coldbrook Road and Printers Drive, while 2023, 2025 and now 2026 use the Coldbrook Road crossing between Autocar Lane and Dave's Way. On Sunday, follow the posted signs and the public safety staff at the site, and keep an eye on the Town of Hermon for any traffic notice.
Dusk changes two practical things. One is visibility around the tracks. CPKC says all Holiday Train events are free and asks spectators to stay at least 50 feet, or 15 meters, from the tracks. That distance is easy to eyeball at 1:30 p.m. and harder in a crowd at 4:30 with children in tow. The other is the walk back. Whoever parks deepest in the business park will finish the evening walking to the car well after civil twilight ends at 4:32. A headlamp or a flashlight in a coat pocket makes that walk easier.
The show itself is short. Each stop gets a 30-minute window, and at every stop one car opens into a stage for a concert of holiday classics and the artists' own songs. If you arrive at 4:40, you've caught the last song.
The donation lands in Thanksgiving week
Admission is free, but the train exists to raise food and money. CPKC asks attendees to bring a cash donation or a non-perishable food item for a local food bank.
In Hermon, the local recipient has been Neighbors Supporting Neighbors Community Food Pantry. CPKC gave the pantry $5,000 in 2023 and presented it with another $5,000 check in 2025, when WABI noted it had been selected for a second time.
The pantry is small and runs on volunteers. In January 2025, WABI reported that it served about 100 families every other week. It stored and packed food at a Bangor warehouse and handed out boxes at the Penobscot Snowmobile Club because it had no permanent home of its own. By last November, the pantry told WABI that more than 100 boxes had gone out at its latest distribution, and that the need tied to the SNAP disruption had "overwhelmed us."
The timing matters too. Last year the Holiday Train came through on Saturday, November 22, and that same week the pantry gave out more than 65 Thanksgiving boxes at the snowmobile club, with another distribution set for the following Monday. WABI also reported that a turkey-box giveaway at Christmas is usually next. This year's stop again falls in the days just before Thanksgiving, which is Thursday, November 26.
If you want your bag to match what a holiday box needs, here is what pantry director Carol Lackedy asked for when WABI talked with her last November:
"We need stuffing, and we need gravy, and we need cranberry sauce."
A box of stuffing mix, a jar of gravy and a can of cranberry sauce weigh almost nothing in a coat pocket on the walk from the business park.
A Sunday plan, in order
- Bring the donation with you. Cash or non-perishables, chosen ahead of time with Thanksgiving boxes in mind.
- Pack a light. The show starts 15 minutes after sunset and ends about 13 minutes after civil twilight.
- Arrive early and follow the signs. Treat the 2022 Coldbrook Business Park plan as a guide to how the area fills, and go by what's posted on the day.
- Stand back from the rails. CPKC's minimum is 50 feet.
- Watch the 4:15 to 4:45 window. Thirty minutes of music, then the train leaves for Greenville.
Hermon Fire Chief Cody Sullivan told WABI in 2023 that the stop "really showcases that Hermon is a growing and up-and-coming community in the greater Bangor area, and we're happy to host it." This Sunday, the town hosts it after sunset for the first time since the crowd of about 8,000 in 2022.
At Aimi Baldwin Real Estate, we keep track of what's happening around Greater Bangor, like the Holiday Train coming back to Coldbrook Road. If you're wondering what your Hermon home is worth this season, start with a free home valuation, and we'll see you down by the tracks on Sunday with a can of cranberry sauce in hand.
