Historic CPKC Steam Train Stops at Union Station

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 94-year-old train known as “The Empress” was on display Saturday at Union Station, a Canadian Pacific Kansas City, or CPKC, steam locomotive.

The train is making a trip from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Mexico City to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

The merger created the first single rail line between the United States, Canada and Mexico and the steam locomotive now follows the same route through Kansas City.

“We will be working together for over 75 days,” said Jonathan Morris, head of Steam Operations Services at CPKC. “We will travel over 9,000 miles. The work is hard, the days are long. These events represent something truly special,” he said, looking out at the crowd of thousands at Union Station.

“That’s why we did this.”

The locomotive was completed in December 1930 by the Montreal Locomotive Works, Morris told FOX4.

It spent approximately 30 years in service before retiring in the early 1960s for diesel engines. “For (CPKC) to take the time and opportunity to take this steam engine, which is very old, and put it on the road? It’s something we very rarely get to see,” said train enthusiast Richard Farmer.

Morris estimated that some of the tracks they will take haven’t seen a steam locomotive in over 60 years, making the trip to Mexico truly one of a kind, where people of all ages can enjoy a piece of living history. “So when you take a little kid who doesn’t know how to talk yet, you put the space shuttle in front of them or the airplane or a book or whatever, they just look at it. But when we put a steam engine in front of them, they go choo-choo!

For Morris, the best part of traveling is bringing people together. “I think it’s a little unique,” ​​he said. “He spent his whole life connecting people, and now he’s right here. We brought it here, but it’s just on hold and it’s still connecting people. So, I think it’s pretty special.

The train will leave Kansas City for Heavener, Oklahoma on Tuesday. Its next event is Friday in Shreveport, Louisiana, and will finish its trip in Mexico City on June 7 before returning to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.