Canadian Pacific Hudson number 2816 leaves Ogden Yard for downtown Calgary to embark passengers for a mechanical shakedown run to West Carseland on the Brooks Subdivision - 14 May 2011 Cor van Steenis.

14 May 2011

Steam Season Opener

Calgary Alberta - The CPR Empress, running as Train 28B-14 (with the auxiliary tender, CP 1401, CP 1900, plus 9 cars, and crew sleeper H.B. Bowen on the tail end), left Ogden Yard at 09:00 14 May 2011 for downtown Calgary to embark passengers (CP employees and their significant others) for a mechanical shakedown run (the first run of 2011) from there to the West Carseland Wye, some 26 miles east of downtown on the Brooks Subdivision.
 
For the first time ever I caught this immaculate machine on the Ogden Yard lead with the sun shining from the east directly onto the loco.
 
I was standing on the dike of the Western Irrigation Canal.
 
Normally there are bad order cars stored on the two tracks in the foreground, blocking this view, or there is a freight pulling by on the P1 or P2 leads from Alyth (behind the steamer), or there is a pulldown job backing into Alyth.
 
There are 6 tracks here, for once all clear, today was my lucky day.
 
Some 75 photos and five hours later we headed back home after being sandblasted by 75 kph winds on the dry prairie around Indus and Carseland.
 
Cor van Steenis