Is chasing the Empress in my future?

In 2024, CPKC (the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Railroads) will celebrate their merger with a three-nation trip across North America. The trip will involve CPKC’s heritage locomotive 2816, “The Empress.”

This is a big deal. Steam locomotives don’t normally cross through the North America like this. They’re most often reserved for tourist trips and heritage lines.

No. This is big.

Oh, man, I gotta photograph this. A big monster steam locomotive with a plume of smoke from its towers, as it travels across the countryside. Let’s see when it’s happening. April 2024. I can make arrangements for this.

Okay, where’s it going to be? Will it follow the Holiday Train route, or will it …

Then I saw the cities where The Empress will travel.

Trust me. It ain’t getting ANYWHERE near Albany.

Here’s the route for The Empress. From Calgary, it goes to …

• Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
• Minot, North Dakota
• St. Paul, Minnesota
• Bensenville, Illinois
• Davenport, Iowa
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Shreveport, Louisiana
• Laredo, Texas
• Mexico City, Mexico

Which … last time I checked … are very far away from Albany.

Okay. Let’s see. I’m already blocking out April for the total solar eclipse, which I can drive to (either Rochester NY, Watertown NY or Erie PA). That’s on April 8, 2024. Meanwhile, CPKC 2816 would leave Calgary on April 14th, which would get it to maybe two certain driveable targets for me – St. Paul, Minnesota, or Bensenville, Illinois. A flight to Shreveport or Laredo TX is not out of the question, but it would be a BIG ask.

I also have to take into consideration everything from travel costs to lodgings to locations where this train might arrive and depart.

And right now … I’m looking towards placing this option in my “maybe” category. As in “maybe” I’ll do this.

But “maybe” is a lot stronger than “I ain’t doing this.”

So check back with me in April 2024 and we’ll see what happens.