Hundreds celebrate return of historic steam locomotive

For Susan Green, it was a love for old steam locomotives that brought her to the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City (CPKC) railway yard off Jarvis Street on Saturday to see The Empress, a 94-year-old steam locomotive.

Mike Davidson was there because “I’ve liked trains my whole life.” And David Alvarado brought his two children because he “wanted to show them what a steam locomotive was like.”

The three were among the hundreds who made their way to the yard to catch the steam locomotive on the last leg of its 14,484-kilometre trip from Calgary to Mexico and back.

Called the Final Spike Steam Tour, the trip was organized to celebrate the 2023 merger of the two railways.

The train of gleaming dark red passenger cars was led by newly restored steam locomotive No. 2816, 4-6-4 Hudson-type steam locomotive built in 1930 and originally assigned to passenger service out of Winnipeg. Its last revenue run was in 1960.

Cliff Davidson, a self-described “train guy,” was trackside taking it all in.

“This is a premier occasion,” he said of the locomotive’s visit to Winnipeg. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”

Also taking in the sights and sounds were Mat and Bailey Switzer and their nine-month-old son Malcolm, who was dressed in railway-themed overalls.

“This is the first time he fit into them,” said Bailey. “It’s perfect timing.”

Malcolm won’t remember the visit, said Mat, who works at the CPKC locomotive shop in Winnipeg. “But there will be pictures,” added Bailey.

Observing the scene was Fred Headon, author of two books about railways in Winnipeg and working on a third.

For him, the locomotive’s visit is a reminder that “the railways built this city.” Being trackside was, for him, a chance to see, hear and smell that history.

“A steam locomotive is alive,” he said, as it hissed and steamed in the background. “There is life in the steam.”

For Terry Cunha of Calgary, who does media relations for CPKC, the response from Winnipeggers was gratifying.

“The trip has been well received,” he said of stops between Calgary and Mexico. “We’ve had the pleasure to visit with thousands of people during the stops. There has been a lot of enthusiasm and excitement along the way.”

In addition to marking the merger and celebrating Canada’s railway heritage, the trip was also a way to “connect the railway to the communities it operates in,” he said.

Jonathan Morris, also of Calgary, is a member of the eight-person team that restored the locomotive and prepared it for the trip to Mexico — a 72-day trip for him, so far.

Morris, who has worked for CPKC for 23 years, is the last of the original crew who worked on The Empress during its last major trip across Canada in 2003.

“I’m a fossil,” he said, standing by the locomotive as it noisily blew out steam from the boiler.

Of the locomotive, which he also operated during the trip, he said “it’s a sweetheart of a machine, it runs incredibly well.”

That included running in the heat in the southern U.S. and Mexico, where temperatures were around or over 40 C.

“I’d never felt heat like that before,” said Morris, of those days in the locomotive’s open-air cab. “I don’t know how hot it got. I didn’t want to know.”

Despite the heat, the locomotive, which uses oil for fuel, was “no trouble,” he said, adding its smooth operation was “blessing and a testament to the hard work of the team” that worked on it.

The stop in Winnipeg was special, he added, since the locomotive started its career in the city.

“It came home today,” Morris said, noting the locomotive used to pull passenger trains between Winnipeg, Calgary and Thunder Bay. “I think that’s pretty neat.”

The transcontinental trip began in Calgary on April 24. It will be back home in that city on July 10.