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Following it's extensive overhaul, CP 2816 recently completed a couple 25mph break-in runs in Calgary. Here the Empress gets up to speed for it's second run, as a wicked storm moves off to the east.
Hasselblad 503CW
Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm F2.8
Fujifilm Instax Square
Nons H1B-H1
1/8 F13 ISO400
© All Rights Reserved
CP H1b 4-6-4 2816 passes Strangmuir siding east of Calgary on the Brooks Subdivision on a test run to Bassano after a major overhaul.
Canadian Pacific H1b 4-6-4 2816 leads the highly-anticipated "Final Spike Steam Tour" east of Medicine Hat, Alberta, on the morning of April 27, 2024. While many fans came out to see this fine machine strut her stuff, the chase was manageable, thanks to the four lane highway running alongside the Maple Creek Sub. But with the highway hiding behind the right-of-way, you can almost convince yourself that it's 1934 instead of 2024, and 2816 is leading The Dominion eastbound for Moose Jaw, Winnipeg and beyond.
Canadian Pacific 2816 operating between]Davenport (Nahant), Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Final Spike Steam Tour.
H1b 4-6-4 2816 leads a westbound special across the high plains at the west mileboard to Carmichael. The train is returning from St.Paul to Calgary after participating in doublehead excursions with MILW 261 .
For Steam Sunday here's a look back to another I hadn't yet shared from a year and a half ago when I madd what was unquestionably the longest train chase of my life...well over 500 miles from DeQuincy, Louisiana to the Mexican border at Laredo, Texas (though not in one day)!
One thing I really wanted to accomplish was capturing a sense of place to illustrate how far from home this steam engine had traveled and the entirely new and unique territory she was traversing for the first time. Here again is CPKC train B40B, the Final Spike special operating over CPKC's ex Kansas City Southern territory on Union Pacific trackage rights. They are seen here steaming west at MP 24.9 on UP's busy Glidden Sub mainline, the former Southern Pacific Sunset Route, running on trackage rights granted to shortline Texas-Mexican Railroad.
The little Galveston to Laredo road's sleepy history all changed in 1996 when the Mexican government privatized its national railway system and awarded one of three concessions (the Northeast Railroad) to a joint venture between Kansas City Southern and Transportación Maritima Mexicana which operated the it as Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM). At the same time the UP was acquiring the SP and as a merger condition, the little Tex-Mex (which KCS had bought a 49% interest in just prior) was granted trackage rights from Robstown to Beaumont, TX to connect the original Tex-Mex to the south end of the original KCS system. By 2005 KCS had bought out its partner and controlled 100% of Tex-Mex and TFM which it renamed Kansas City Southern de México, S.A. de C.V. (KCSM). Eighteen years later on April 14, 2023 the KCS was formally merged with the Canadian Pacific Railway to created the tri national CPKC and these trackage rights are a critical link connecting its US and Canadian routes with its Mexican lines.
The red GE is passing the landmark structures of the former Imperial Sugar Refinery which gave birth to and is the namesake of this bustling and growing city of over 100,000 just southwest of Houston. Sugar Land did not become an actual municipal law city until 1959 and for half a century prior was a defacto company town.
Tracing it's roots back to 1843 in the community, the company officially adopted the name Imperial Sugar in 1908 and for the next eight decades the refinery complex here was the company's only plant. In 1988 Imperial acquired Colorado's Holly Sugar and then continued further expansion though there historic home plant here was closed in 2003. However, corporate and administrative offices remain here making Imperial the oldest extant business in Texas.
To learn more check out these links:
easttexashistory.org/items/show/147
www.imperialsugarland.com/history
And like so much else in our past the history can be complicated and messy but it's worth reading about:
www.gsd.harvard.edu/2019/11/the-collective-amnesia-of-sug...
www.chron.com/local/history/economy-business/article/Impe...
As for the train, this is Canadian Pacific 2816, the famed 'Empress', an H1b class 4-6-4 Hudson built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. Orignally retired in 1960 after there decades of pulling CP passenger trains the locomotive was purchased by F. Nelson Blount for preservation as part of his Steamtown collection in Vermont. It later moved with the rest of the collection to Scranton until CP purchased it back from the National Park Service in 1998. Returned to service in 2001 she operated until 2012 when E. Hunter Harrison took the reigns at CP. Eight years later Keith Creel (EHH's successor) reversed course and she was fired up for a test run and then a second restoration began which was completed in 2023.
As a way of celebrating the approval and consummation of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railway merger on April 14, 2023 CPKC ran a tri nation tour across the length of their newly combined network. The trip began in Calgary on April 24th and concluded in Mexico City on June 7th before returning home for a total of three months on the road and 9000 miles round trip!
Sugar Land, Texas
Saturday May 25, 2024
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will add a $100,000 (£74,000) annual fee for applicants to the H-1B visa programme for skilled foreign workers.
Trump's order mentions "abuse" of the programme and will restrict entry unless payment is made.
Critics have long argued that H-1Bs undercut the American workforce, while supporters - including billionaire Elon Musk - argue it allows the US to attract top talent from around the world.
In another order, Trump set up a new "gold card" to fast-track visas for certain immigrants in exchange for fees starting at £1m.
Trump's order is due to come into force on 21 September. It would only apply to new requests, but companies would have to pay the same amount for each applicant for six years, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
(Ever heard the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face").
If America had the skilled workers don't they think they would hire them! Or is there something else behind this - I mean $100,000 plus salary, plus relocation expenses - these "skilled workers" must be something or someone special.
Its been a long day running across western Louisiana and southeast Texas, but CP 2816's day isn't done just yet. The train has entered one of its bigger gauntlets: the Houston Terminal.
The Final Spike Tour is approaching the junction at Tower 87 alongside UP's massive Englewood Yard in northeast Houston. With a hump job on one side, and a line of pace cars on the other, the Empress will be navigating a number of tight interlockings and junctions as the train works its way past Englewood and through Houston.
B40B (Final Spike Steam Tour; Calgary, AB to Mexico City, CDMX)
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
CP SD70ACU #7013
CP FP9A #1401
CP FP9A #4107
Houston, TX
May 25th, 2024
After a full day of chasing the Empress from Davenport, Iowa, this would be our final shot just outside of Kansas City.
For Steam Sunday here is another from my 500 mile long two day chase of this historic trip one year ago. This was one of the top shots of the day and one of the few that had a big gathering of other photographers....for obvious reasons.
The special is westbound at about MP 73.2 on modern day CPKC's Laredo Sub, the former Texas-Mexican Railway mainline seen from the TX route 329 overpass, one of only a handful places along the line that afforded an elevated vantage point. The oppressive heat and humidity is quite evident by the haze hanging over the arid scrub lands.
Running as CPKC train B40B, the tri-national Final Spike special is led by famed CP 2816, the 'Empress', an H1b class 4-6-4 Hudson built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. Orignally retired in 1960 after there decades of pulling CP passenger trains the locomotive was purchased by F. Nelson Blount for preservation as part of his Steamtown collection in Vermont. It later moved with the rest of the collection to Scranton until CP purchased it back from the National Park Service in 1998. Returned to service in 2001 she operated until 2012 when E. Hunter Harrison took the reigns at CP. Eight years later Keith Creel (EHH's successor) reversed course and she was fired up for a test run and then a second restoration began which was completed in 2023.
As a way of celebrating the approval and consummation of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railway merger on April 14, 2023 CPKC is running a tri-nation tour across the length of their newly combined network. The trip began in Calgary on April 24th, 2024 and wrapped up in Mexico City on June 7th before returning home for a total of three months on the road and 9000 miles round trip!
West of Realitos
Duval County, Texas
Monday May 27, 2024
The American Champion 8KCAB Super Decathlon is a two-seat fixed conventional gear light airplanes designed for flight training & personal use and capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses between +6g and −5g.
-- Super Decathlon Tech Specs --
‧ Power Plant: Lycoming AEIO-360-H1B four cylinder horizontally-opposed aircraft engine
‧ Horse Power @ RPM: 180 @ 2700 rpm
‧ Propeller, Constant Speed: MT Composite MTV-15-B-C/C188-34
‧ Propeller Diameter: 74 in
‧ Length: 22.9 ft
‧ Height: 7.7 ft
‧ Wingspan: 32 ft
‧ Seats: 2, Tandem
‧ Empty Weight: 1305 lbs
‧ Max. Gross Weight: 1950 lbs (normal); 1800 lbs (acrobatic)
‧ Acrobatic Limit Loading: +6, -5 G's
‧ Takeoff Distance, Ground Roll: 580 ft
‧ Takeoff Distance Over 50-ft Obstacle: 1061 ft
‧ Rate of Climb, Sea Level: 1130 fpm
‧ Maximum Level Speed, Sea Level: 155 mph TAS
‧ Cruise Speed / Endurance with 45 Min Reserve @ 75% Power: 141 mph/ 3.4 hrs
‧ Stall speed: 53 mph
‧ Never exceed speed: 200 mph
‧ Service Ceiling: 16000 ft
‧ Landing Distance over 50-ft Obstacle: 1126 ft
‧ Landing Distance, Ground Roll: 498 ft
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
On Cinco de Mayo, the venerable CP Class H1b #2816 leads the CPKC Final Spike Tour past the 1905 Milwaukee Road depot and ADM grain elevator complex down below in Red Wing, Minnesota as seen from high atop Barn Bluff.
CP 2816 is about the knock down the signal at Glenmore as it approaches the end of it's mainline break-in run.
The Empress bringing its train around a curve just West of Braymer, Missouri, on the CPKC Kansas City Sub. Just me and my buddies were at this spot other than a local family. It was a nice change of pace from the groups of people all day.
Canadian Pacific 2816 operating between Davenport (Nahant), Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Final Spike Steam Tour.
The Empress passing by a searchlight that still stands tall in Braymer, Missouri, on the CPKC Kansas City Sub.
After its "eventful," and unfortunately tragic trip down to Ciudad de México that claimed the life of a trespassing spectator, the CP 2816 finally found its way back north today into Kansas City after a multi-day layover in Shreveport.
Not having to adhere to any sort of schedule on this leg of the journey, it was just another train on a busy mainline, and it took quite a bit of time working its way up from Oklahoma. As it played out, this shot just north of its Amsterdam, MO service stop turned out to be my only GOOD shot of it all day.
Oh, well. Any day that you get to see any sort of mainline steam, AND get a good shot of it is a good one. Anything beyond this is just greedy, right? Right?!?
Canadian Pacific 2816 operating between Davenport (Nahant), Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Final Spike Steam Tour.
CP 2816 beginning its all day trek to Kansas City out of Nahant as the line of chasers follow alongside.
2816 is running light power from Nahant (Davenport), Iowa, to Silvis, Illinois, for RRHMA's event on Saturday.
Fields of blooming canola lines the tracks around Bennett as CP 2816 powers it's short train west back to Calgary.
CP 2816 gets hostled around Ogden Yard in Calgary, AB Canada this evening. It’s being readied for it’s multinational tour from Canada to Mexico City and back.
After racing past big crowds on its way to Houston, CP 2816 pauses on the main at Fauna for a service stop. Between swarms of railfans and the CPKC steam crew surrounding the locomotive for maintenance, it was hard to get a clear shot here. This is at the end of the stop, with everything packed up and people clearing out so the The Empress can get back on its way.
After this 15-minute stop here in northeast Houston, the Final Spike Tour would continue on the Sunset Route through the Bayou City before calling it a night at CPKC's Kendleton Yard on the far opposite side of the metro area.
B40B (Final Spike Steam Tour; Calgary, AB to Mexico City, CDMX)
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
CP SD70ACU #7013
CP FP9A #1401
CP FP9A #4107
Houston, TX
May 25th, 2024
Its been a long day running across western Louisiana and southeast Texas, but CP 2816's day isn't done just yet. The train has entered one of its bigger gauntlets: the Houston Terminal.
The Final Spike Tour is approaching the junction at Tower 87 alongside UP's massive Englewood Yard in northeast Houston. With a hump job on one side, and a line of pace cars on the other, the Empress will be navigating a number of tight interlockings and junctions as the train works its way past Englewood and through Houston.
B40B (Final Spike Steam Tour; Calgary, AB to Mexico City, CDMX)
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
CP SD70ACU #7013
CP FP9A #1401
CP FP9A #4107
Houston, TX
May 25th, 2024
The Final Spike Steam Tour train is about the duck under the Trans Canada Highway as it approaches Swift Current. The Empress would get a quick service done while the pilot crews changed off at the depot in town before the train continued on towards Medicine Hat.
I rarely post two train shots back to back, but since it IS a holiday (National Train Day).....
This is a photo run-by from an excursion trip we took from Chicago to Sturtevant, Wisconsin in 2007
This is Canadian Pacific 2816 - The Empress
Sturtevant, Wisconsin Near 42.6990, -87.9054
September 1, 2007
*with apologies to Ernie Banks
COPYRIGHT 2007, 2025 by Jim Frazier All Rights Reserved. This may NOT be used for ANY reason without written consent from Jim Frazier. e070901c065-2500
My take on CP 2816, 'The Empress," and its journey through the Twin Cities. I managed to sneak up to Camden with time to see CP 148 wrap up its work at Shoreham and make room for the Empress to depart the Humboldt Yard. Here she is crossing over US Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. I had this vantage point to myself, and I could not have been happier to enjoy this moment in peace.
After passing big crowds in Liberty and Dayton, CP 2816 really lets loose on the long straightaway east of Crosby. The train is easily making 50 mph here on the Sunset Route east of Houston.
B40B (Final Spike Steam Tour; Calgary, AB to Mexico City, CDMX)
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
CP SD70ACU #7013
CP FP9A #1401
CP FP9A #4107
Crosby, TX
May 25th, 2024
Canadian Pacific 2816 operating between Davenport (Nahant), Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Final Spike Steam Tour.
After departing CPKC's Deramus Yard a half hour before, The Empress rolls southward through Cedar Grove on the south side of Shreveport.
The train is slowing to a stop though as the crew would have issues getting the automatic interlocking with UP's Reisor Sub to clear, resulting in the first of many delays on this warm and humid Saturday.
B40B (Final Spike Steam Tour; Calgary, AB to Mexico City, CDMX)
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
CP SD70ACU #7013
CP FP9A #1401
CP FP9A #4107
Shreveport, LA
May 25th, 2024
After passing big crowds in Dayton proper, CP 2816 is opening it up on the freshly manicured straightaway that stretches 15 miles to Crosby (UP double-tracked here in 2022). The train is easily making 50 mph here on the Sunset Route east of Houston.
At the left is milepost 330, measured from SP's former ferry terminal at Algiers, LA, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
B40B (Final Spike Steam Tour; Calgary, AB to Mexico City, CDMX)
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
CP SD70ACU #7013
CP FP9A #1401
CP FP9A #4107
Dayton, TX
May 25th, 2024
For Steam Sunday here is one of my favorites from my 500 mile long two day chase of this historic trip. The special is seen holding at MP 46.2 on modern day CPKC's Laredo Sub, the former Texas-Mexican Railway mainline. This is the west end of the new (about 5 years ago) 10,089 foot Bruni Siding and team track where the steam special will meet northbound CPKC freight M-281-26. While killing time I had the chance to chat with three friendly CPKC special agents and a Texas highway patrolman who was a Laredo native and was kind enough to offer a bunch of excellent suggestions for Mexican food that I enjoyed on my visit. He also kindly posed for a few photos with his cruiser that clearly illustrate how far from home 2816 really is. I hope you like this one as much as I do because it really was a chase highlight!
Running as CPKC train B40B, the tri-national Final Spike special is led by famed CP 2816, the 'Empress', an H1b class 4-6-4 Hudson built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. Orignally retired in 1960 after there decades of pulling CP passenger trains the locomotive was purchased by F. Nelson Blount for preservation as part of his Steamtown collection in Vermont. It later moved with the rest of the collection to Scranton until CP purchased it back from the National Park Service in 1998. Returned to service in 2001 she operated until 2012 when E. Hunter Harrison took the reigns at CP. Eight years later Keith Creel (EHH's successor) reversed course and she was fired up for a test run and then a second restoration began which was completed in 2023.
As a way of celebrating the approval and consummation of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railway merger on April 14, 2023 CPKC is running a tri-nation tour across the length of their newly combined network. The trip began in Calgary on April 24th and will conclude in Mexico City on June 7th before returning home for a total of three months on the road and 9000 miles round trip! To learn much more check out CPKC's official page for the tour here:
www.cpkcr.com/en/community/final-spike-steam-train
Near Unincorporated Bruni
Webb County, Texas
Monday May 27, 2024
I'll leave it to the viewer to decide which is which, but The Empress parked next to the Southern Belle is quite the juxtaposition in beauty and elegance.
After spending the afternoon at the Shreveport public display, CP 2816 and the consist of the Final Spike Tour have been parked for the night at CPKC's Deramus Yard. The train is situated here in the "Belle House", home of the former KCS's business cars and Retrobelle F9's. This placement could not have been much better to document a transitional era for Deramus Yard and the KCS.
Photo taken on railroad property with permission.
CP H1b 4-6-4 #2816
KCS FP9A #2
KCS F9B #3
KCS FP9A #1
Shreveport, LA
May 24th, 2024
Railroading Heritage of Midwest American (RRHMA) hosted Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 2816 on June 28-29, 2024, at the massive former Rock Island shop in Silvis, Illinois. The group has Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 3985 and 2-10-2 5511 under restoration on the shop floor. DDA40X 6936 pulling a 3-car passenger train.
Canadian Pacific 2816 operating between Davenport (Nahant), Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Final Spike Steam Tour.
Canadian Pacific 2816 operating between]Davenport (Nahant), Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, during the Final Spike Steam Tour.
For Steam Sunday here's another shot from my epic 300 mile all day chase from Kendleton to Laredo of this historic trip. After a 75 mile run down CPKC's Rosenburg Sub, the special is now running on trackage rights as they make their way south on Union Pacific's Cuero Sub (ex SP) crossing Houston Street crossing at MP 14.6 as they parallel Old Port Lavaca Road. A quarter mile ahead they'll hang a right onto the ex MoPac rails of UP's Angleton Sub then continue on via it and the Brownsville Sub to Robstown where they'll again find home rails via CPKC's Laredo Sub, the ex Tex-Mex mainline.
The special was running as CPKC train B40B, the tri-national Final Spike special led by famed CP 2816, the 'Empress', an H1b class 4-6-4 Hudson built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. Orignally retired in 1960 after there decades of pulling CP passenger trains the locomotive was purchased by F. Nelson Blount for preservation as part of his Steamtown collection in Vermont. It later moved with the rest of the collection to Scranton until CP purchased it back from the National Park Service in 1998. Returned to service in 2001 she operated until 2012 when E. Hunter Harrison took the reigns at CP. Eight years later Keith Creel (EHH's successor) reversed course and she was fired up for a test run and then a second restoration began which was completed in 2023.
As a way of celebrating the approval and consummation of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railway merger on April 14, 2023 CPKC ran a tri-nation tour across the length of their newly combined network. The trip began in Calgary on April 24th and concluded in Mexico City on June 7th before returning home for a total of three months on the road and 9000 miles round trip!
Unincorporated Placedo
Victoria County, Texas
Monday May 27, 2024