[1] The locomotive was removed from the scrap lines of Angus, Ontario, and it was put on static display at Steamtown's first location in Bellows Falls, Vermont.

[1] During the mid-late 1990s, the Canadian Pacific Railway's then-president and CEO, Robert Ritchie, reorganized the company and established the "Royal Canadian Pacific" excursion train to honour the railway's history, and he sought for CP to operate their own steam excursion program.

8216, and it was ferried from Scranton to Montreal via Binghamton and Albany, New York, before travelling cross-country to the BC Rail steam workshop in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

[10][12] CP contracted the BC Rail steam shop crew, led by Al Broadfoot, to disassemble No.

2816 was disassembled, it was revealed that it was mechanically worn out, despite the preliminary inspectors having stated otherwise, but Rob Ritchie decided to approve a complete rebuild of the locomotive, regardless.

[9] Broadfoot and his team were able to obtain multiple plans and vital information about CP H1b class locomotives, including a collection of over 800 technical drawings provided by the Canada Science and Technology Museum, and they used them as references for the project.

[13][14] Hundreds of replacement parts had to be fabricated by contractors in Vancouver, such as the cab, the running boards, the rod brasses, the superheater manifold, among other things.

2816's firebox was converted from coal to oil firing, and the tender received dual water intakes with Canadian and American threads.

2816 would be scheduled to return to service for their steam program by September of that year, but the deadline was pushed back, due to further challenges encountered in the restoration process.

[6][8][a] The locomotive began pulling additional public relations excursions for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and it quickly received the name "The Empress".

2816 pulled the Royal Canadian Pacific consist while performing a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) tour across the CP between Vancouver and Montreal, and it marked the first time in fifty years that a single steam locomotive pulled a cross-country passenger train in Canada, but it was assisted by three CP heritage diesels.

[17] In early June 2004, the Empress was ferried behind a Soo Line SD60 over the CSX mainline between Buffalo, New York and Chicago, Illinois, and then it travelled to the Twin Cities area in Minnesota to participate in the Grand Excursion 2004 event, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad's celebration train of 1854.

2816 pulled multiple public excursions for the event between the Twin Cities and the Quad Cities area in Iowa, using passenger coaches owned by Friends of the 261, and the last train took place on July 3; a doubleheader with Milwaukee Road 261 from St. Paul to La Crescent and return.

2816 toured the CP from Calgary to Chicago, and then it pulled some public excursions within Illinois and Wisconsin, including another doubleheader with No.

2816 did not operate at all in 2009, but crews opted to take advantage of the down time to perform some extensive maintenance work on the Empress and its passenger car fleet.

[20][22] In late 2012, Canadian Pacific CEO Fred Green—Rob Ritchie's successor—stepped down from the company, and E. Hunter Harrison succeeded him.

[22] Despite Harrison's resignation from the railway in early 2017, with Keith Creel succeeding him, the locomotive still remained in storage afterward.

[24][25] In 2021, Creel announced that if the US Surface Transportation Board approved CP's merger with the Kansas City Southern, the railway would celebrate it by bringing No.

[26][27][28] The locomotive first received an overhaul by CP's steam crew, and in the process, it was equipped with positive train control.

2816 began its Final Spike Steam Tour running from Calgary with whistle stops in Moose Jaw on April 28; Minot, North Dakota, on April 30; Saint Paul, Minnesota, on May 3; Franklin Park, Illinois, on May 8; Davenport, Iowa, on May 10; Kansas City, Missouri, on May 18; Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 24; Laredo, Texas, on May 28; Monterrey, Nuevo León, on May 31; and Mexico City on June 7.

2816 passed through Nopala de Villagrán and fatally struck a 29-year-old woman, who attempted to take a selfie at an unsafe distance.

[36][37][c] As part of the Final Spike Steam Tour, CP 2816 was joined by hydrogen fuel cell locomotive 1001 at the start of the journey.

This collaboration symbolized the convergence of tradition and modernity, showcasing CP's efforts to honour its steam heritage while embracing sustainable technology for the future of rail transport.