CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City will launch the “Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour,” featuring 4-6-4 No. 2816 on a Canada-to-Mexico trip to celebrate last year’s Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, on April 24 at its headquarters in Calgary.
A total of 11 stops are planned for the tour, concluding June 4 in Mexico City.
“Our combination on April 14, 2023, brought together two railroads with long and proud histories that together created the first and only railroad network connecting North America,” CPKC CEO Keith Creel said in a press release. “This special cross-continental journey of the 2816 steam locomotive serves as a reminder of our past and a celebration of our future. We are excited to share this extraordinary experience with communities across our network as we mark the one-year anniversary of our CPKC journey. The Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour will be the first ever steam-powered passenger train in North America to traverse Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in a single trip.”
Intermediate stops are scheduled for:
— Moose Jaw, Sask., April 28;
— Minot, N.D., April 30;
— St. Paul, Minn.; May 3;
— Franklin Park, Ill.; May 8;
— Davenport, Iowa, May 10;
— Kansas City, Mo; May 18;
— Shreveport, La.; May 24;
— Laredo, Texas, May 28;
— Monterrey, Mexico, May 31.
Steam tour events in Moose Jaw, Minot, St. Paul, Franklin Park, Davenport, Shreveport, and Laredo will include opportunities for the public to get an up-close look at the locomotive built in 1930 by Montreal Locomotive Works, learn more about the locomotive and CPKC’s history, and see the Puffer Belly Express, a quarter-scale steam locomotive mini-train. In Mexico City, the locomotive will be spotted for public display.
More information and the full schedule is available here.
