By Justin Franz

The steam event of the year is kicking off in Calgary on Friday as recently-restored Canadian Pacific H1b 4-6-4 2816 departs on an ambitious tour of the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

CP 2816 and her train were set to depart CPKC Railway’s Ogden Yard Friday morning bound for the Medicine Hat area, where it will overnight, before continuing on to Moose Jaw, Sask., for an event on Sunday. On Monday, April 29, the locomotive will continue to Minot, N.D. Additional events where the public can get up close with the locomotive are scheduled for Minot, N.D. (April 30), St. Paul, Minn. (May 3), Franklin Park, Ill. (May 8), Davenport, Iowa (May 10), Kansas City (May 18), Shreveport, La. (May 24) and Laredo, Tex. (May 28). The locomotive will continue to Mexico City afterward and be on display there in early June.

CPKC has released a schedule for the locomotive’s moves between each display site and as activated a tracker so that people can watch the train’s progress. The railroad has said the tracker will be turned off at night or when safety demands it. The tracker can be found online. 

Locomotive 2816 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. It ran until 1960 and then was sold to preservationist F. Nelson Blount. In 1998, CP reacquired the locomotive and ran it for a decade beginning in 2001. In 2023, CP reactivated 2816 to celebrate its merger with Kansas City Southern.

Read more about CP 2816’s return to the main line in the April 2024 issue of Railfan & Railroad!

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