Moose Jaw Saskatchewan - A restored steam locomotive, nearly a century old, is on a North American tour to celebrate the completion of a continental rail connection from Canada to the United States and Mexico.
 
The Canadian Pacific locomotive, also known as the "Empress", was built in 1930 by Montreal Locomotive Works.
 
CPKC said they drove the ceremonial final spike in the project last year, and this tour is celebrating that, with nine public stops.
 
On Sunday, Moose Jaw was the latest city the "Empress" graced with its presence.
 
Thousands of people gathered in the rail yards to admire the relic.
 
"Just to get picked to be on this, I mean it's the highlight of my career. So it's an amazing trip that we're doing, just record-breaking, history-making, so many things," said Ben Cummings, part of the crew on the "Empress".
 
The process for operating a steam locomotive can be slow and a little bit tedious.
 
Cummings said you have to have a certain amount of pressure in the boiler for the engine to even think about starting up.
 
An atomizer injects air, or superheated steam into the diesel fuel, then comes the fire, then the precise control of the flame to slowly bring it up to temperature.
 
It'll hurt it if you take it up too quick.
 
It's old.
 
"She's kind of grouchy, and has a mind of her own sometimes, but she's a good rig. We won't talk too loudly about it over here. She's a good old girl," he said.
 
Bart Campbell has been following the train since its first stop in Calgary, sometimes racing ahead of it along the highway to watch it go by an underpass.
 
He said he's been interested in trains since he was a little boy.
 
"My grandpa used to hop freight trains in the Depression," he said with a smile.
 
"So, he used to tell me all his stories. And as a kid, I used to put the pennies on the track and I'd watch the trains go by my house."
 
Seeing the old steam era alive again was "an unbelievable feeling" for Campbell.
 
This particular train ran throughout the Great Depression, the Second World War, and beyond, "averaging at times up to 18,000 miles per month.
 
In 30 years, it is estimated the locomotive ran over 3.5 million miles," according to the CPKC website.
 
After months of building, testing, tweaking, and restoring, it's amazing to see the train chugging across three countries, Cummings said.
 
"Just that "whap" of the steam, it's just, you can't get it out of your head," Cummings said.
 
"Once you hear it, I don't know if you're into that, but once you hear it, you're hooked, you're a goner. I know I was."
 
The train's next stop is in Minot, North Dakota.
 
There's a virtual tour of the locomotive on the Final Spike Steam Tour website, as well as a live map of its tour and stops.
 
Emily Rae Pasiuk.