CP 2816 Labor Day Weekend Photos

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

     With perfect weather for Labor Day weekend in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin the Canadian Pacific Railroad put on a great show for the people in the area and showed off how a railroad can use steam as a great PR device.  The #2816 ran Saturday, Sunday and Monday from Franklin Park, IL to Sturtevant, WI and return.  Every day the weather was perfect and the #2816 ran flawlessly and looked AWESOME !!   Here are some photos from the weekend

Saturday Sept 1 northbound at Rondout, IL

The Skytop brings up the rear of the excursion train northbound at Rondout, IL

Now southbound at Rondout, IL

Crossing over to run around a freight train at Rondout, IL

What Year is It at Rondout, IL ??

Sunday September 2nd 2816 northbound at the curves near Techny north of O'hare

#2816 puts on a great photo run-by at Sturtevant, WI 

Servicing the #2816 at Sturtevant, WI

Departing Sturtevant, WI on Sunday

Splitting the signals southbound at Tower A5

Skytop Cedar Rapids heads south from A5 near Techny

METRA MP36 pushes past #2816 at Bensenville, IL

#2816 gets a pressure wash and a rub down at Bensenville, IL

The Old meets the New at Bensenville, IL

Most of the excursions this weekend were SOLD OUT.  Hopefully the interest in these trips will make sure that steam excursions keep running in the midwest. 

Keith Schmidt

 

[Poppa_Zit]

Thank you for sharing, Keith. Great photos.

[EJE818]

Great shots, Keith. I rode on the train Saturday, went to Sturtevant Sunday, and went to Bensenville today to catch it. I've been expecting to see shots from Rondout somewhere.

[dknelson]

The CP did itself proud this weekend.  Their entire staff, from train crews to dispatchers to tower operators to railroad police, both in Illinois and Wisconsin, took a very reasonable and public relations oriented approach to the situation.  Frankly many of us WERE standing in places that ordinarily would be off limits (and were clearly marked as such) but we were not ordered off, only asked to stand back for safety.   I am sorry to say that some railfans probably abused the privileges we were being granted and we saw some behavior that could only make you shake your head.   

The tower operator at Roundout would regularly use the official railroad radio to talk to the assembled railfans (via our scanners) to keep us informed of 2816's whereabouts and what other trains would be preceding it.  While I have heard train crews talk to each other in a certain way that conveyed they knew that we were listening in, this is the first instance I can recall where we were actually being directly addressed, in a very helpful way. 

Thank you, CP Railroad and thank you Friends of 261.  It's been a great weekend.

Dave Nelson

 

[samfp1943]

Thank you for sharing, Keith. Great photos.

           ABSOLUTELY! THANKS!

[Chris30]

Thanks for sharing. In reference to what year is it a Roundout... I think that SUV gives it away.

CC

[eolafan]

This explains why I was virtually alone out at Eola this weekend.

[CopCarSS]

Keith,

I always look forward to your shots. Beautiful work as always. The B&W shot of the tower at Rondout was really cool (that'd be a wallhanger for me!).

Thanks for sharing!

[Modelcar]

....Keith:  Absolutely great photos....Really a nice bunch of greatly composed RR photos.  Very much liked the black and whites too.

[selector]

Thanks, I enjoyed your fine images. 

If you want to see some not-bad video, some folks have theirs on youtube already.   Just do a search on "CPR 2816" on that site and one of the first three or four will be from this weekend, as titled. 

Love that whistle!  That engine can spank the rails, too.

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

Thanks for all the nice comments.  The weather and "Empress" did most of the work for the photos.  Speaking of whistles, I was surprised to hear the #2816 use the "other" whistle for the photo run-by in Sturtevant on Sunday.  It was a great weekend. 

Thanks again,

Keith