The CPKC Final Spike Steam Tour working its way from Canada to Mexico celebrates the one-year anniversary of CPKC, which formed with the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. On April 14, 2023, CPKC drove a ceremonial final spike in Kansas City, Missouri, becoming the single-line railroad connecting Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The locomotive steamed Tuesday into a wet welcome from a crowd unfazed by the steady rain.

“I think it’s cool,” said Elias Allan, 10, Burlington.

“I think it was amazing how it looked. It was cool because I’ve never seen one of these before,” said 10-year-old Zoey Cree, who was impressed to see a retired locomotive back in operation. “It’s pretty fun just looking at it. I thought that they weren’t here anymore and now I just realized they are still here, and it’s kind of amazing the first time I’ve seen them.”

Minot Mayor Tom Ross peers from the cabin of the Empress 2816 that stopped in downtown Minot Tuesday.

Her uncle, Robin Cree Jr., was impressed by the big old engines on the other end of the train as well.

“They are not getting as much thunder as this one but this is impressive,” he said.

Train fan Ezra Archibeque, 3, also showed his excitement, mimicking the tooting horn with a big smile on his face.

“It has an engineer on board,” he announced.

Bill Reimer came from Winkler, Manitoba, to see the train.

“I ran a local steam traction engine like they drove in the field for fieldwork. So this is one step bigger,” he said. It wasn’t his first time seeing a steam locomotive, either.

“They have a small one in Winnipeg that they run for a tourist attraction,” he said. He said he drove to Minot thinking it was as close as the steam locomotive would come to Winkler, only to discover it will be coming through Winnipeg on its return trip in June.

“Maybe we will see it there, too,” said Reimer, who came to Minot with his wife and daughter.

The 4-6-4 Hudson-type steam locomotive was built in December 1930 by Montreal Locomotive Works. Originally intended for fast freight and passenger service, the locomotive worked primarily in eastern Canada for nearly 30 years before retiring on May 26, 1960.

It served as a roving steam-powered ambassador for Canadian Pacific throughout Canada and the U.S. before being placed in storage in 2012. Now, after a decade of slumber, the engine has been carefully prepared to once again travel the rails, taking a more than 8,000-mile journey across three countries.

The Empress 2816 left Calgary, Alberta, last Wednesday and is scheduled to arrive in Mexico City Tuesday, June 4.