By Justin Franz
Even before this year, Canadian Pacific’s H1 Hudsons were known for going the distance. In the late 1930s, semi-streamlined locomotives 2850 and 2851 led the Royal Train (and accompanying press train) more than 3,200 miles across Canada without incident. In the preservation era, two others ventured to unfamiliar territory in the United States; locomotive 2839 spent two years leading excursions for the Southern Railway, while 2860 ventured from its home base in British Columbia east to Chicago and south to California in the late 1970s to promote tourism in the Pacific Province.
But it might be a lowly, non-streamlined Hudson that takes the title for most well-traveled following CP H1b 4-6-4 2816’s historic trip to Mexico this year. Six weeks and 4,200 miles after departing Calgary on April 26, the Final Spike Steam Tour arrived in Mexico City last week. The arrival was historic for multiple reasons, not just the fact that the tour is celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the CP and Kansas City Southern merger. The run marked the first time since the 1960s that a main line steam locomotive operated in Mexico and the first time a steam locomotive visited Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. It also marked the halfway point toward 2816 and her crew grabbing the title for the longest steam excursion to feature a single locomotive in such a short amount of time.
After touring through the U.S. and Canada in late April and May, 2816 and train crossed the U.S.-Mexican border on May 30, at Laredo, Tex. As the Final Spike Steam Tour headed south for Mexico City, massive crowds gathered to see the locomotive, with people lining the right-of-way just to get a brief glimpse.
“The reception we have received down here has far exceeded anything any of us ever could have imagined,” wrote Adam Meeks, a steam crew member and senior manager of heritage operations. “It has been humbling and more than a little emotional to witness what 2816 has meant to these people and see their reactions to the train.”
Tragically, on June 4, a 29-year-old woman was killed when she got too close to the train while trying to take a selfie of it passing.
On June 7, tens of thousands of people descended on Mexico City to see the locomotive on display during the only public event south of the border (private events for CPKC employees and invited guests were held elsewhere while in Mexico). With the display in Mexico City, locomotive 2816 reached the furthest southern point of its months-long tour.
In the early morning hours of June 9, the train departed Mexico City with SD70ACu 7013 and two FP9s leading the way, possibly to tamp down on some of the crowds on the return trip. Locomotive 2816 is, however, still under steam. The train is expected to cross back into the U.S. in the coming week. On June 15, the train will depart Laredo, Tex., bound for points north. A detailed schedule for the U.S. and Canadian portions of the return trip can be found online. The locomotive’s final public display is in Winnipeg, Man., on July 6, and it will arrive back in Calgary on July 10, capping off a truly historic tour.
