Final Spike Steam Tour features 'The Empress' No. 2816 - Trains

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Final Spike Steam Tour features ‘The Empress’ No. 2816

By Steve Smedley | May 15, 2024

A 4-6-4 Hudson-type steam locomotive stars in this photo gallery

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Final Spike Steam Tour

On Thursday, May 9, 2024, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroad’s Class H-1b Hudson No. 2816 continued its Final Spike Steam Tour operating over former Milwaukee Road trackage into Iowa following a display day in Franklin Park, Ill. The 4-6-4 and the CPKC executive train rolled west across the old Milwaukee Road D&I (Dubuque and Illinois) Division line to Sabula, Iowa, and then south along the Mississippi River line to Nahant, Iowa. On Friday, the train was cleaned and serviced before making a backup move from the Nahant Yard into Quinlan Court, the Mississippi riverfront park in downtown Davenport for a 3-hour free display event. On Saturday, under a cloudless sky, the train made a dash west to Kansas City, Mo.

steam train by boat
Passing a tied-down towboat, No. 2816 rolls west with the Final Spike Steam Tour special on the causeway between Savanna, Ill., and Sabula, Iowa, in the main channel of the Mississippi River at Sabula on May 9, 2024. Nine photos, Steve Smedley

steam train behind old blue car
Railfan Sky Krause of Indianapolis, Ind., posed his 1966 Plymouth Fury at Deer Creek, Iowa, during the CPKC Final Spike Steam Tour. A 4-6-4 No. 2816, known as The Empress, — a preserved class H-1b 4-6-4 Hudson-type steam locomotive built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930 — passes the classic Plymouth on Thursday, May 9, 2024.

red and black steam train with grass in front
Canadian Pacific Railway’s Final Spike Steam Tour, behind 4-6-4 No. 2816, passes through flood gates on the north side of Clinton, Iowa, on Thursday May 9, 2024.

steam with train and cars on side of it
The Empress is shown at Adeline, Ill., on Thursday, May 9, 2024, with railfans following.

Steam engine surrounded by people parked under pedestrian bridge
No. 2816  is on a free public display in Quinlan Court on the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport Iowa, on Friday, May 10, 2024.

man wiping off steam locomotive
No. 2816 steam crew member wipes mud from the cowcatcher of The Empress prior to backing out of Nahant Yard to downtown Davenport, Iowa, on Friday, May 10, 2024.

officers in neon vests for safety briefing
CPKC police officers hold a safety briefing in Nahant Yard, south of Davenport, Iowa, on Friday, May 10, 2024, prior to guarding crossings for the backup move and display in Davenport.

steam train with sun coming down on it
Canadian Pacific No. 2816 is assisted up Letts Hill just east of Letts, Iowa, by the two CP FP9s Nos. 1401 and 4107 on its run from Nahant, Iowa to Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday, May 11, 2024.

Steam locomotive and water tenders on bridge
No. 2816 leads the Steam Tour train westbound at the confluence of the Cedar and Iowa rivers at Columbus Junction, Iowa, on Saturday, May 11, 2024.

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