Calgary Alberta - If you've seen Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 number 2816 charge through your town this spring, or if you've been lucky enough to chase CPKC's Final Spike Steam Tour, I'm envious.
 
Thus far I've had to settle for being an armchair railfan as the steam spectacle of the year unfolds.
 
Now, don't get me wrong.
 
Watching Trains' coverage on Facebook, along with videos on YouTube, and the endless stream of dramatic photos posted online and landing in my inbox, isn't a bad way to follow along.
 
The next closest thing to getting up close and personal with the Empress might very well be the virtual train tour that CPKC has posted on its website.
 
You can explore the Final Spike Steam Tour equipment through 360-degree views that also allow you to zoom in and out.
 
The tour starts in the 2816's spacious vestibule cab.
 
There's a glow from the firebox.
 
The Hudson's backhead is studded with brass fixtures, piping, and red valve handles.
 
And the immaculate cab, resplendent in green paint, just shines.
 
A "Hear the Whistle" label beckons from the top right corner of the screen, just below the whistle cord.
 
Clicking it can never feel the same as tugging the real cord, of course.
 
But the result is the same, pure melody.
 
The virtual tour also takes you to one place you'd never go with a live steam locomotive.
 
Click on the firebox label and you're whisked inside.
 
It's a cold firebox, but it's a unique view.
 
Pan around and you can see back into the cab.
 
By the fireman's cab door there's another label that invites exploration, "Visit Engine 1401."
 

CPKC 1401 - Date? CPKC.

That's a reference to FP9A number 1401, which is one of two cab units that are tied behind the 2816's canteens and clad in CP's classic Tuscan red and gray livery.
 
Click that label and you land in the 1401's cab.
 
From there you can explore the 1401's nose or head back into the snug engine compartment, where you can walk all the way around the 16-645E prime mover.
 
Make your way back into the cab, look out the engineer door's window, and you'll see a link to visit the Glacier dining car.
 
CP acquired the car in 2019, some 65 years after Pullman-Standard built it for Canadian National.
 
CP's crew at the Ogden Shops has decked it out with exquisite wood paneling and outfitted it with one long table, which in the images online is set for a party of 10.
 
The stainless steel galley kitchen simply glistens.
 
Next up, the Major Rogers bar car.
 
The car was named for Massachusetts-born surveyor Maj. Albert Bowman Rogers, who in 1882 chose the rugged pass CP's main line would follow through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia.
 
The car features a cherry wood interior, full service bar, and an electric fireplace surrounded by fieldstone.
 
It's not hard to imagine sinking into one of the leather seats in the lounge and watching the scenery roll by, drink in hand.
 
Stroll past the fireplace and you're headed for the Selkirk dome car.
 

The three-quarters dome car "Selkirk" - Date? CPKC.

How CP Heritage Operations team rebuilt the three-quarters dome from a former broken down Southern Pacific hulk is beyond me.
 
The Selkirk is, in a word, spectacular.
 
Spectacular also is an apt description of the Final Spike Steam Tour itself, an ambitious trip that left CPKC's headquarters in Calgary on 24 Apr 2024 and is due to arrive in Mexico City on 4 Jun 2024.
 
Maybe I'll be able to catch the 2816 on its way back home, or grab a ticket for its 29 Jun 2024 public excursion from Silvis, Illinois, to Bureau Junction, Illinois, on the Iowa Interstate.
 
For now, I'll have to be content watching the magnificent machine online.
 
And what a show!
 
Bill Stephens.