30 May 2004 Long-Lost Locomotive Steams Home After being away from Montreal for 44 years, Canadian Pacific's Empress 2816 finally rolled back into the city in which it had worked for three decades.   One of only 48 surviving CP steam locomotives, the Empress led a passenger train from Vancouver on 10 May 2004. It arrived in Montreal's commuter-train platform near Windsor Station yesterday afternoon.   Along the way, it made more than 20 stops, picking up other passengers across the country. Money from those tickets went to various charities devoted to providing poor children with breakfast before school.   But it was more than charity that brought people to the Empress.   Holding a small suitcase, railway enthusiast Paul Ennis smiled as he explained why he paid $450 for a trip from Smiths Falls, Ont., to Montreal.   Today, direct full-service passenger trains no longer run between the two cities, Ennis said.   "For me, as a rail fan, it's great both because nobody travels a line like that anymore and because it's a steam engine."   Spectators were also there snapping pictures.   "We saw it stop at St. Anne de Bellevue and decided to see it in Montreal, so we followed the train," Irene Steffen said.   Steffen's husband, Dick, said the Empress brought back memories.   "We used to travel on steam locomotives," he said. "And they got you where you wanted to go faster than planes today."   Built by a Montreal company in 1930, the Empress pulled passenger trains from downtown Montreal to the West Island.   Back then, the steam engine was powered by coal.   In 1960, the Empress was converted to a stationary boiler.   For 40 years, the locomotive was displayed in railway museums, including one in Vermont and another in Pennsylvania.   In 1998, Canadian Pacific bought the Empress and began returning it to working order.   That included converting the engine from coal to oil.   "The oil heats the boiler, which makes the steam that drives the wheels," Canadian Pacific spokesperson Michel Spenard said.   The Empress is based mainly in Western Canada, where it is used for publicity and charity events. But until 11 Jun 2004, the locomotive will remain in Quebec.   Today, it will make four round trips between the downtown commuter station and Montreal West station.   The metro closest to the starting point is Windsor Statin (Lucien-L'Allier). Departing at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and noon. The return trip costs $10.   From around 1 p.m. to 2:30, the locomotive will be downtown for visitors to admire for free.   At 3:30 p.m. the train will leave on a round trip for Ste. Therese. It will return around 8 at night. Tickets cost $150.   The money will go to charity.   Tickets for all the day's trips, go on sale at 6:30 a.m. at the downtown commuter terminal near the Lucien-L'Allier metro and the Bell Centre.   If you can't catch the train today, on June 10 the Empress will travel from Montreal to south shore St. Constant in honour of the Canadian Railway Museum there, which will reopen at the end of June.