Loading ...The ‘Empress’ is a beauty. Kudos to CP Rail for restoring and maintaining this historic locomotive. It’s no slouch at 4700 HP and yes, the large diameter drivers are intended for speed in passenger service. I found a few more pix of her recent excursion:
http://railpictures.net/photo/653446/
They bring along a spare diesel loco just in case of a catastrophic failure of the steamer. The two boxcars behind are spare parts and maintenance items to keep her running if field repairs are needed. These things ran on sleeve bearings, and at every major stop the engineer or crew would be ‘oiling around’ all the wheels, rods, pinions and anything that moves.
http://railpictures.net/photo/653315/
She’s remarkably clean… not having seen much service. And now she is fired by oil rather than coal, which helps keep things cleaner. The only standout ‘non-original’ on the front face are the two ‘ditch lights’ above the front pilot. As named, they provide increased illumination in the near-field side ditches for the engineer. The main headlight shines far down the center of the track. Ditch lights are now required for operation in Canada and the US.
http://railpictures.net/photo/653269/