The 2816 Empress, part of the Final Spike Steam Tour, crossing the Mooringsport, La., rail bridge on May 22, 2024. The 2816 is special.
She is a 93-year-old steam locomotive in an era of diesel behemoths. She is the only Hudson 4-6-4 steam-type locomotive in operation, and this is the only time the train has been south of Chicago, the first and maybe last time she will ever be near Shreveport. The locomotive is the Empress, and she and the cars she is pulling will be stationed for public viewing at the Deramus Yard from 4 p.
m. to 8 p.m.
at 4540 N. Lakeshore Drive in Shreveport. The 2816 Empress rolling through Blanchard, La.
, as part of the Final Spike Steam Train Tour on May 22, 2024. On Wednesday as the Empress made its way south from Arkansas, Shreveport railroad buff Warren Cailiff was one of several people lining the tracks from Mooringsport to Blanchard to get a glimpse of her. Cailiff, the founder of the Kansas City Southern Historical Society and friend Don Kimmel were not going to miss the opportunity to see the Empress in action as it came through downtown Blanchard.
"It was a pretty thing," Cailiff told The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate. "We all realized we were seeing something we probably won't see again." That is just one of the fairly long list of reasons the record-breaking 10,000-mile voyage of the Empress is special.
That the locomotive even survived to make the trip might be reason number one. The train was built in 1930 by Montreal Locomotive Works to b.
