The tour was the extension of the announcement of the monumental merger a year prior to the steam tour, which we produced in Kansas City, called The Final Spike. The name was a play off of the iconic picture of the last spike that was ceremoniously hammered by the company director of the Canadian Pacific Railway in BC in 1885 that completed the first national track. The merger ceremony in 2023 included a town hall, a press conference, a groundbreaking ceremony, and a ceremonial driving of the final spike for companies joining together to create the only railway in North America that joins Canada, USA & Mexico, complete with a photo recreation of the 1885 image with the CEO driving the final spike.
The Final Spike Steam Tour took place over the course of five and a half weeks and spanned 20,000 miles [32,187 kilometers] of rail across 3 countries, for a total of 11 different events in Calgary, Moose Jaw, Winnipeg, Minot, St. Paul, Franklin Park, Davenport, Kansas City, Shreveport, Laredo, and Monterrey, Mexico.
The 11 locations were all very different, however we ensured that they all had the same overall feel while offering unique elements such as misting tents in the southern locations to relieve our guests from the extreme heat. These events happened rain or shine, and were open to the public, so we welcomed local families, train enthusiasts, and notable dignitaries to cheer on the train at each stop.
Each location had a family friendly festival-like atmosphere, complete with food trucks and tents from local providers, employee recognition and program tents, and kids craft stations where kids could build a paper version of The Empress. Guests could tour through a portable museum called the Heritage Museum that gave them the opportunity to look at historical artifacts from the company's history up close at each event. In addition to the Heritage Museum, there was a kids train at each location called the Puffer Belly. This train was designed to look like a smaller version of the steam train and we invited children to ride the train around the event site.
The star of the tour was the freshly revived steam train, The Empress. Prior to launching this train into action, a committed group of railroaders came out of retirement to restore The Empress so it was ready for its long haul journey from Canada to Mexico and back. This unique sense of dedication is not something that occurs in every industry, but it was inspiring to see people so invested in the success of the train and the steam tour overall.
