Step Off the Train at Midnapore Station
The platform smells of woodsmoke and diesel, and the carolers are already working the crowd when the 1951 locomotive rolls in. This is Heritage Park Historical Village's Heritage Holiday Train — the park's first winter train ride, running on a newly restored diesel-electric locomotive with onboard entertainment. You board at Midnapore Station; the ride lasts about ten to fifteen minutes and takes two loops around the park. Departures run from 10:00 a.m. through 3:20 p.m. on event days, and you'll want to be at the station ten minutes before yours — fifteen, if you're on the first departure of the day.
The train is an add-on to Once Upon a Christmas, the park's seasonal programme, which runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. across four weekends and a two-day stretch in 2026: December 6–7, 13–14, and 20–21, plus Monday–Tuesday, December 22–23. Bundle tickets (event plus train) are $29.95 for adults 16 and over and $24.95 for children 3–15; event-only admission is $19.95 and $14.95. Members get into Once Upon a Christmas free, with the train as a paid add-on. Tickets go through Showpass, and all sales are final. One caveat worth knowing before you book: rides are cancelled at −20°C, with or without wind chill, and there are no refunds for weather — your ticket still gets you into the rest of the event.
Fill a Full Day Inside the Village Gates
Give the park the whole day. Once you're through the gates at 1900 Heritage Dr. S.W., the programme spreads across the village, and the walk from the entrance to Midnapore Station alone takes about fifteen minutes.
- Ride a horse-drawn wagon — pick-up and drop-off across from Town Hall.
- Meet Santa at the North Pole, set up inside the Famous 5 Centre of Canadian Women, where you can also take festive photos.
- Send a Santa Gram by Morse telegraph with the Morse Telegraph Club at Midnapore Station on December 6, 13, 20 and 22.
- Hear Métis folklore and Christmas storytelling at the Weedon School House.
- Shop the Christmas Market Calgary in the Celebration Tent, with local artisans and live entertainment, then let the kids loose in the Kids' Only Market at Burns Barn.
- Browse the Heritage Park Christmas Lego Village in Barons Snooker Parlour and the railroad display at Innovation Crossing.
- Visit the farm animals in Ranch & Farm Life, and catch the roving carolers as they move through the village.
- Buy village-made gifts at the Post Office, which also runs a 1910 parcel delivery.
If you have children in tow, the Famous 5 Centre also runs children's Christmas crafts. Note that guests 17 and under must ride the train with an adult, and strollers aren't permitted on board — they can be stored at Midnapore Station. The railcars aren't wheelchair accessible, and the upper caboose requires climbing a ladder; an accessible shuttle bus runs within the park.
Catch a 1910s Department-Store Feud
Three times a day, the Canmore Opera House stages The Twelve Days of Discounts, a Canmore Christmas production set in 1910s department-store rivalry between Pryce Jones and the Hudson's Bay Company. Showtimes are 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. daily during the event. Build your train departure and your market browsing around one of those slots rather than trying to squeeze it in at the end of the day.
Know the Logistics Before You Go
Plan to arrive at the park a full hour before your train time — the gates-to-station walk eats fifteen minutes on its own, and 10 a.m. riders should be through by 9:30 a.m. Parking is paid in the front lots under ParkPlus zone 8320; members park free. Members booking the train should get their access password from Guest Services before trying Showpass.
On accessibility and assistance: Fair Entry Fee Assistance and Canoo tickets are valid for regular Once Upon a Christmas admission only, not the Holiday Train add-on. Members can add a caboose ride — $16.95 for the lower level, $24.95 for the upper, ages 3 and up — while the standard train add-on is $9.95 for ages 3 and up.
Build Your December Around the Event Weekends
The 2026 dates are fixed and finite: December 6–7, 13–14, 20–21, and 22–23. If you're travelling in, aim at one of the Saturday–Sunday pairs and treat the Monday–Tuesday run as your quieter alternative before the holiday itself. The weather policy is the one variable you can't plan around — at −20°C the train stops running — so if the train is the reason you're coming, watch the forecast in the days before your booking and decide accordingly.
Start with the Showpass listing, pick your date, and book the bundle rather than the event-only ticket — the train is the thing you'll remember, and it only runs on those eight days.