Historic Note: CP 4-6-4 Hudson No. 2816 begins excursion service!

Click on each picture for a closer look!
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Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
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"September 19, 2001:
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Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 Hudson No. 2816 begins excursion service after three years of restoration. Built in 1930 by the Montreal Locomotive Works, the steam locomotive operated in the Toronto area in the late 1940s and had last seen regular service in 1960 hauling commuter trains in the Montreal area. In 1963, it was sold to Steamtown in the United States and remained in storage until repatriated by Canadian Pacific in 1998. Of the five CP H1 Hudsons to be preserved, 2816 is the only surviving non-streamlined locomotive of its class. Following three years of restoration at the BC Rail shops in North Vancouver, the engine was named the CPR Empress, an homage to the capital steamships operated by the company for many years. CP uses the locomotive as a roving corporate ambassador, often to raise funds for the Breakfast for Learning Foundation. In 2003 and 2004, No. 2816 visited Toronto and hauled the first and so far only mainline steam excursions out of the city since 1980."
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Visit the CP website by clicking here to see more photos of CP #2816 optionally in high resolution images. More information about the restoration of this engine can be found here at Wikipedia. Click on the video below to watch #2816 leaving Chicago in 2004. Click here for a brief video of #2816 storming Morants Curve on the Rocky Mountains in May of 2006.
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If you wish to read the daily postings from Derek, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here.
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures from CP's Website
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