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A visit to the Milwaukee Road 261 Shop, Minnesota Commercial and Bandana Square 8/10/2009

I awoke at the Best Western Kelly Inn and after a free breakfast in their restaurant, drove into Minneapolis via Minnesota Highway 9 and Broadway which took me to where I once again found Milwaukee Road 261's shops. I called Judy Sandberg and she told me Steve was having breakfast and would be here soon to show me my old friend, Milwaukee Road 261. Joe Harper stopped by for a brief visit and we caught up on a variety of things then he left for Duluth and I waited for Steve, who arrived twenty-five minutes later. He opened the shop door and for the first time I entered the building that today held two 4-8-4's.

Milwaukee Road 261 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, New York in July 1944 for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. It was used for heavy mainline freight work until being retired by the railroad in 1954. Instead of being cut up for scrap, the 261 was preserved and donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1958. Today the locomotive is owned, operated and maintained by Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization Friends of the 261, which runs seasonal excursion trains using the 261. The steam engine, restored in 1993, has logged more than 25,000 miles under its own power since that time.

The 261 was originally operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, which was also known as the Milwaukee Road. The locomotive, weighing 460,000 pounds, is rated at a maximum of 4,500 hp and maximum speed of 100 mph is coal fueled. It had a 3 chime whistle and airhorn mounted on it. It operated with the railroad until retiring in 1954, and eventually donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. As the new museum's first acquisition, 261 was moved to the museum site in 1958.

In 1991, the newly formed "North Star Rail" selected 261 for restoration for mainline excursions. It was selected for a variety of reasons. The engine was large enough to handle the expected trains at track speed. It featured several modern features for a steam locomotive, including easier to maintain roller bearings. It also already had its asbestos lagging removed, which is very expensive to remove for environmental and safety reasons. Finally, 261's relatively short 10 year service life meant that the engine's boiler is more pristine, meaning it would take less work to rebuild the engine.

North Star Rail and the National Railroad Museum came to an agreement in November 1991 for a ten-year lease (which was later renewed ten years later). 261 was moved from Green Bay to Minneapolis to the GE shops at Humboldt Yard in September 1992. There, a full-time staff rebuilt the engine. Work progressed quickly, allowing for a hydrostatic test in June 1993, a test fireup in July, and the eventual restoration completion in September. After passing the FRA inspection on September 14, the engine deadheaded over Wisconsin Central in time for its first public excursions on September 18-19, 1993. The engine later returned to its new home at the leased Burlington Northern Minneapolis Junction.

The following year, 261 had an extensive season including excursions on the Wisconsin Central Railroad and the Twin Cities and Western Railroad. Notable events included "Chocolate City Days" excusions, campaign trains, a movie shoot painted as "Lackawanna 1661", running over CSX tracks for the famed "New River Train", and a wrap up celebrating the engine's 50th birthday.

The engine participated in the Steamtown National Historic Site's grand opening in July 1995. Over five days, 261 deadheaded from Minneapolis to Scranton, Pennsylvania. The locomotive stayed in Scranton for the next year pulling numerous excursions, including rare mileage trips, a rare snow plow run, and the engine's first steam doubleheader with Susquehanna 142. A Hancock 3 chime whistle was temporarily added to the locomotive and then replaced with an AT&SF 6 chime whistle, which it remains with today, but still also keeping its original non- Hancock 3 chime whistle and airhorn. 261 returned to the Midwest after almost a year at Steamtown. On its way home, the engine made its first runs over the newly formed Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. It pulled a few sets of excursions in 1997 and 1998 over BNSF and TC&W trackage.

The year of 1998 presented 261 on its biggest assignment yet as it was the first steam engine to pull BNSF's Employee Appreciation Special. The engine led a BNSF locomotive and a dozen of BNSF's business fleet around the upper Midwest portion of the BNSF's route. This brought the engine back to Chicago before heading north to North Dakota and Montana, then through Minneapolis into Iowa before the EAS concluded at Topeka Railroad Days. 261 ended the 1998 operating season after a few more days on BNSF tracks going from North Kansas City top Lincoln to Sioux Falls back to the Twin Cities.

The 1999 season was short with a weekend excursion in May from Minneapolis to Duluth along with runs on the Lake Superior Railroad Museum's tracks, along with another excursion in September. The year 2000 saw 261 leading excursions out of places like Chicago, Omaha, and Kansas City. The engine also led an AAPRCO special on August 29 to Duluth. The engine then led a long circle trip over the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad as well as the North Shore Railroad System before heading back home. The 2001 season had excursions out of Minneapolis and Montevideo over BNSF and TC&W tracks during June and July, in a complete match of Hiawatha passenger cars. The next year, 261 pulled an almost matching consist between Minneapolis and Chicago. At this point, insurance rates were skyrocketing due to outside events as well as new FRA guidelines. The Friends of the 261 had an insurance policy to run through 2002, making these trips among the last time that the group could afford to have 261 run solo.

In the following months, some major changes were made to the Friends of the 261's operations. With insurance being too high to charge reasonable ticket prices, the group decided to team up with Amtrak. Amtrak is self-insured, so the added cost of excursion insurance was much less. However, Amtrak requires that all equipment meet Amtrak certification. The engine became the second steam engine to become Amtrak certified, and the Friends of the 261 began to buy or rebuild coaches that would meet Amtrak specifications. The first team up with Amtrak occurred in October 2003 with the engine's return to old Milwaukee Road tracks between Minneapolis to Winona, Minnesota. These trips have been repeated each year since.

In June 2004, the engine made its first return visit to Milwaukee since being restored, overnighting on its way to Chicago to participate in the Grand Excursion, an approximate reenactment of the original Grand Excursion of 1854. It departed from Chicago, arriving in Rock Island, Illinois to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first railroad to reach the Mississippi River. During the Grand Excursion, 261 made day trips to Savanna, Illinois over the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad, and to Bureau Junction, Illinois on Iowa Interstate Railroad, current owner/operator of the first railroad line to the Mississippi. The train then traveled north along IC&E rails near the Mississippi River, making overnight stops at Dubuque, Iowa and La Crosse, Wisconsin. The final leg up to the Twin Cities operated in Wisconsin on BNSF trackage.

261 ran an excursion from Minneapolis to Duluth via BNSF trackage in both 2005 and 2007.

Three June 2006 excursions were launched from Milwaukee: a dinner train in Friday 23 to Sturtevant, Wisconsin, and Saturday & Sunday excursions (24th & 25th) to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. For these runs, the train was turned at New Lisbon. These excursions would be repeated in August 2008.

In September 2006, 261 and its train visited Rock Island, Illinois as part of RiverWay 2006, a Quad Cities celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River in 1856. As part of the festivities, 261's train was coupled to a pair of Chinese-built QJ 2-10-2 steam locomotives for a trip to Homestead, Iowa, on September 15, 2006. The next day, 261 was added to run a "triple-header" from Rock Island to Bureau Junction, Illinois; then, on the following day, the QJs pulled the train, without 261, to Muscatine, Iowa, and back. Diesels were not used on any of these excursions.

In September 2007, Canadian Pacific 2816 and 261 reunited for another doubleheader to Winona. No diesels or water cars were used on the trip. The Friends of the 261 had helped the Canadian Pacific Railway plan 2816's return to the United States, as well as providing half of the consist 2816 led.

In May 2008, 261 was featured on a photo charter on the TC&W railroad. Following this, the engine was moved to Chicago for filming in "Public Enemies", a film based on the life of John Dillinger and starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Though 261 was built ten years after Dillinger died, the engine did fit the bill for a steam engine that could be filmed at Chicago Union Station. The engine's final excursion before the required Federal Railway Administration's "15 year inspection" for 261 was a run in September 2008 on Canadian Pacific's ex-Milwaukee Road line from Minneapolis to Winona with a return on BNSF's ex-Burlington line from La Crosse to Minneapolis. Following the engine being pulled from service, The Friends quickly began a rebuild to the engine.

In 2009, the work on 261 was halted to concentrate efforts on Southern Pacific 4449. The famed "Daylight" was to participate in Train Festival 2009 and the Friends of the 261 played a major part in the engine being able to participate. The group provided several passenger cars for 4449's excursion from Portland, Oregon, to Owosso, Michigan, that started on July 3, 2009, as well as Train Festival 2009. After being away for three months, the 4449 arrived in Portland on October 20, 2009.

At the east end of the shop is Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261, not looking as it normally does, such as on my first trip to Duluth in 2002 with this great engine.

The fire box door was missing, along with the jacketing, thereby exposing the bare skin of the steam engine. It was undergoing its 15 year rebuilding, but work had stopped until the lease agreement with the National Railroad Museum was decided.

261's bell.

Staybolts on the walkway.

The engineer's side.

Looking down the engineer's side.

The fireman's side of Milwaukee Road 261.

The view into the smoke box. I climbed in for the next picture.

Looking into the boiler minus all the tubes.

Back to the fireman's side, I went into the cab.

Inside the stripped-down cab.

My final view of Milwaukee Road 261 was of the driving wheels. Steve then took me to the other end of the shop to see the other 4-8-4 here, Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4449.

Southern Pacific 4449 is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of steam locomotives. The GS-4 is a streamlined 4-8-4 (Northern) type steam locomotive. GS stands for "Golden State", a nickname for California (where the locomotive was operated in regular service), or "General Service." The locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, for SP in May 1941; it received the red-and-orange "Daylight" paint scheme for the passenger trains of the same name which it hauled for most of its service career. No. 4449 was retired from revenue service in 1957 and put into storage. In 1958 it was donated, by the railroad, to the City of Portland who then put it on static display in Oaks Park, where it remained until 1974. It was restored to operation for use in the second American Freedom Train, which toured the 48 contiguous United States for the American Bicentennial celebrations. Since then, 4449 has been operated in excursion service throughout the continental US; its operations are currently based at the Brooklyn roundhouse in Portland, where it is maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers called Friends of SP 4449. In 1983, a poll of Trains magazine readers chose the 4449 as the most popular locomotive in the nation.

Revenue Years: 4449 was the last engine manufactured in Southern Pacific's first order of GS-4 (Golden State/General Service) locomotives. 4449 was placed into service on May 30, 1941, and spent its early career assigned to the Coast Daylight, SP's premier passenger train between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, but it also pulled many other of the SP's named passenger trains. After the arrival of newer GS-4s and GS-5s, 4449 was assigned to Golden State Route and Sunset Route passenger trains. 4449 was re-assigned to the Coast Division in the early 1950s. One of 4449's career highlights happened on October 17, 1954, when 4449 and sister 4447 pulled a special 10-car train for the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society from Los Angeles to Owenyo, California, and return. In 1955, after being one of the last few Daylight steam engines in Daylight livery, 4449 was painted black and silver and its side skirting (a streamlining feature of the Daylight steam engines) was removed due to dieselization of the Coast Daylight in January of that year. 4449 was then assigned to Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Valley line, occasionally pulling passenger trains such as the San Joaquin Daylight between Oakland and Bakersfield as well as fast freight and helper service. 4449 was semi-retired from service on September 24, 1956, and was kept as an emergency back-up locomotive until it was officially retired on October 2, 1957, and was placed in storage along with several other GS-class engines near Southern Pacific's Bakersfield roundhouse.

On Display: In 1958, when most of the GS class engines had already been scrapped, a then black-and-silver painted 4449 was removed from storage and donated to the city of Portland, Oregon, on April 24, 1958, where it was placed on outdoor public display in Oaks Park. Since the equipment was considered obsolete, 4449 was not actively chosen for static display. It was picked simply because it was the first in the dead line and could be removed with the least number of switching moves. During its time on display, 4449 was repeatedly vandalized and had many of its parts stolen, including its builder's plates and whistle. The locomotive quickly deteriorated due to neglect. It was evaluated for restoration in 1974 after becoming a candidate to pull the American Freedom Train. Its size, power, and graceful lines made it a good fit for the Bicentennial train. After finding that 4449's bearings and rods were in good shape, it was chosen.

American Freedom Train: 4449 was removed from display on December 14, 1974, and restored at Burlington Northern's Hoyt Street roundhouse in Portland and returned to operation April 21, 1975, wearing a special paint scheme of red, white, and blue. As part of the American Freedom Train, the engine pulled a display train around the most of the United States. Afterwards, 4449 pulled an Amtrak special, the Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion. After nearly two years on the road, 4449 was returned to storage in Portland, this time under protective cover and not exposed to the elements.

Present Day: In 1981, SP 4449 was returned to its original "Daylight" colors for the first Railfair at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. In 1984, 4449 pulled an all Daylight-painted train from Portland to New Orleans, Louisiana and back, to publicize the World's Fair. The 7,477-mile round trip was the longest steam train excursion in US history. In 1986, 4449 went to Hollywood to appear in "Tough Guys" and pulled business trains for the Southern Pacific. No. 4449 had another famous moment in 1989 when 4449 and Union Pacific 844 (another famous 4-8-4 steam engine) made a side-by-side entrance into the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989 for the station's 50th anniversary celebrations. No. 4449 returned to Railfair in Sacramento in 1991 and again in 1999. In 2000, 4449 was repainted black and silver for a Burlington Northern Santa Fe employee appreciation special, then was repainted into the American Freedom Train colors again in early 2002 after the events of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In 2004, the locomotive was returned to Daylight colors again, this time in its "as delivered" appearance.

In 2005 at the Portland, Oregon Go by Train NRHS Convention" she double-headed to Wishram with Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700.

The Daylight Engine was laying over here after its trip to Train Festival 2009 in Owosso, Michigan, and will be here to pinch-hit for Milwaukee Road 261 October Fall Colors trip before returning to Portland in late October.

Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4449.

It had no problem fitting in this shop building.

Looking down the side.

The tender of Southern Pacific 4449.

This is a joke for the SP 4449 crew when they return. Steam crews love pulling jokes on each other. Steve and I had a fantastic visit while we walked through the shop, as well as their new lounge car they acquired from the Georgia Southwestern Railroad, in which I rode during Bart Jennings' rare mileage trip. When I finished, I thanked Steve and drove to my next stop where I would railfan.

This railroad operates out of the St. Paul area with service to Minneapolis, Bayport, Hugo, Fridley and New Brighton. It is considered a switching and terminal railroad and is based out of a roundhouse on Cleveland Avenue in St. Paul, just blocks south of the former Amtrak station and its main yard is just to the north of the station.

Its lines consist of one to Fridley, with an interchange with Canadian National Railway and a small yard in New Brighton. The railroad also runs to Hugo and Bayport on trackage rights. It interchanges with BNSF Railway at Northtown yard. It also serves east Minneapolis' grain elevators by the University of Minnesota as well as the grain elevators on Minnesota State Highway 55 adjacent to the METRO Blue Line.

The Minnesota Commercial connects with all major railroads in the Twin Cities including: Canadian National Railway, BNSF Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, Union Pacific Railroad and Twin Cities and Western Railroad. The MNNR's roster consists of mainly Alco and GE locomotives. With over two dozen locomotives, including one from Hamersley Iron in Australia, the roster is diverse and meets the switching and road freight needs. Most units wear a red paint scheme much like that of the Green Bay and Western Railroad.

Formerly known as the Minnesota Transfer Railroad, it was privately owned by the major railroads serving the Twin Cities area. The Minnesota Transfer was leased by the Minnesota Commercial on February 1, 1987.

I parked across the street, walked into the office and asked for a release to take pictures at the roundhouse. I was handed one, signed it and the railroad's representative counter-signed it, then I was free to take pictures around the roundhouse. I was asked to return my copy when I finished.

In the roundhouse were Minnesota Commercial B23-7 1983, nee Conrail 1983 built by General Electric in 1979, and Minnesota Commercial B23-7 1978, nee Conrail 1978 built by General Electric in 1979.

On the turntable was Minnesota Commercial B30-7 54, ex. National Raileay Equipment 5487, exx. Burlington Northern 5487, nee St. Louis-San Francisco 865 built by General Electric in 1977.

Minnesota Commercial Slug T-2 ex. National Railway Equipment 3501, exx. America Latina Logistica 7700, exxx. Norfolk Southern 3501.nee Southern B30-7A 3501, built by General Electric in 1982.

Minnesota Commercial T-2 and Minnesota Commercial 54.

Minnesota Commercial T-1 known as Sluggo, ex Peabody Coal 2235, exx. Baltimore and Ohio 2235, nee Baltimore and Ohio AS-16 901 built by Baldwin in 1952.

Minnesota Commercial C424 313, nee Green Bay and Western 313 built by American Locomotive Company in 1965.

Minnesota Commercial C36-7 59, ex. National Railway Equipment 5059, nee Hammersley Iron 5059 built by General Electric in 1978.

Minnesota Commercial B23-7 1982, ex. Tennessee Southern 3171, nee Conrail 1982 built by General Electric in 1979.

Yard scene.

Minnesota Commercial C30-7 56, ex. America Latina Logistica 9314, exx. BNSF 5189, nee Santa Fe 8146 built by General Electric in 1981.

Minnesota Commercial B30-7AB 4076, nee Burlington Northern 4076 built by General Electric in 1983.

Minnesota Commercial RS18u 83, ex. Canadian Pacific 1837, nee Canadian Pacific 8785 built by American Locomotive Company in 1958.

Minnesota Commercial C424 314, nee Green Bay and Western 314 built by American Locomotive Company in 1965.

Minnesota Commercial SF30C 50, ex. Santa Fe 9501, nee Santa Fe 8728 built by General Electric in 1973.

Roundhouse scene. I returned to the office, gave them back my copy of the release and thanked them for my visit.

Bandana Square

I drove to my next location of the morning, Bandana Square.

Bandana Square serves as a prime example of historic restoration. Originally built in 1901 as part of a multi-building repair facility for Northern Pacific Railroad, "Como Shops" served as a major economic driver that contributed to the growth and vitality of St. Paul and the country's ability to expand westward. The property was renovated and repositioned several times as its original use was phased out and the campus changed ownerships. In the mid-1980's, it was converted into a retail and restaurant destination that was unable to thrive due to competitive pressures. The campus is fondly remembered for hosting the Minnesota Children’s Museum, the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum and the Dakota Jazz Club.

After purchasing the neighbouring Atrium Building in 2002, Wellington acquired Bandana Square and began a major renovation in 2008 to convert the retail into charming office space. Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, the beautiful brick-and-timber building features a large, central atrium, skylights, tenant micro market, a skyway-connected parking ramp and modern infrastructure and energy management systems. The extensively landscaped campus includes a large courtyard and several elements from its former life, including a rail car that houses the building's back-up generator.

In front is Grand Trunk Western 0-8-0 8327, ex. Illinois Railway Museum donation 1982, exx. Northwestern Steel and Wire 10 Sterling, Illinois 1960, exxx. Robinson Brothers 1960, exxxx. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company 8327 1929, nee Grand Trunk Western Railway 8327 built by Lima in 1927.

Once I was done, I drove to my next stop, the Minnesota Transportation Museum.

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