15 April 2002
CPR 4-6-4 No. 2816 to Haul Vancouver Trips, Then Head for Calgary
Port Coquitlam British Columbia - Canadian Pacific will
kick off the first full year of its steam program with two 4 May 2002 excursions between Port Coquitlam and Mission,
British Columbia - 42 years to the month after 4-6-4 No. 2816 ended its first active career on the railway. The CPR
Empress will haul two 50-mile round-trip excursions with West Coast Express commuter equipment. The 10 a.m.
and 2 p.m. trips will benefit local service groups.
CPR is still ironing out the locomotive's schedule for the season. But it will operate in the Vancouver area between 4 and
12 May 2002, says Jonathan Hanna, the railway's corporate historian. During the week of 13 May 2002 it will
reprise its September 2001 maiden trip from Vancouver to Calgary, he said. Within the next few weeks the railway expects to nail down
the 2816's schedule through the end of June.
During the 4 May 2002 trips, the 2816 will operate over virtually the same stretch of railway where it made its
break-in runs last year after the completion of its overhaul and restoration at the BC Rail steam shop in North
Vancouver.
"CPR Empress kicks off the 2002 season 42 years to the month after it finished its active CPR career. And in much the same
fashion - pulling commuter coaches", Hanna said. "But this time, instead of pulling the usual commuter coach consist seen in
North America's last steam-operated commuter service in 1960, 2816 will carry 1,000 passengers on each of two trips in the
latest West Coast Express Bombardier bi-level commuter coaches".
In its stint in Montreal commuter service - which ended 26 May 1960 - the 2816 pulled a mixture of Canadian Car &
Foundry 1953 lightweight 800-series coaches, and CPR/National Steel Car 1300 and 1400-series coaches from the
1920s and early 1930s, Hanna noted.
Excursion tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Port Coquitlam commuter rail
station platform, the morning of the departures. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for children between the ages of 4 and 12.
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