The Empress steam locomotive rolls through Franklin Park on Canadian Pacific ‘Final Spike’ tour

A 1930 steam engine called The Empress pulled into downtown Franklin Park Wednesday – taking a break from its trek along the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad line on its trip from Calgary, Canada to Mexico City, Mexico – and hundreds turned out to witness the historic visit.

The locomotive’s stop was part of the one-year anniversary of the Canadian Pacific’s purchase of the Kansas City Southern line. The buy created the only single-line railway connecting the three North American countries, and hauls freight.