On April 14, 2023 the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railroads officially merged to form Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and created a railroad that directly connects three nations. To celebrate, the railroad sent Canadian Pacific steam locomotive 2816 on an international tour from Calgary, Alberta to Mexico City and return. The nearly 3-month tour would take the locomotive into territories it and no other locomotive of its class have ever been!
In late May we set out to Shreveport, Louisiana to see the locomotive on its southbound journey towards Mexico City. We first caught the locomotive north of Shreveport in Ravanna, Arkansas. Two days later we attended the public event where we got to get up close to the locomotive. The next day we chased the Empress from Shreveport to Houston, with many spots planned out far in advance.
Canadian Pacific 2816 is a 4-6-4 H1b Hudson type built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. It pulled freight and passenger trains for CP until being retired in 1960 and put on display at Steamtown in Bellow Falls, Vermont in 1964. In 1998 Canadian Pacific reacquired the engine and restored it to operating condition in 2001. In 2012 she was put into storage in Calgary and wouldn't be steam up until 2020 for a Virtual Holiday Event. In 2023 it received a complete overhaul for the international tour which (at the time of this video) is very well underway.