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Milwaukee Road 261 Minneapolis Jct to Glencoe 10/1/2017

The Friends of Milwaukee Road 261 had sent an e-mail about two excursions to Glencoe, Minnesota. I made my airline reservations but unfortunately chose the wrong date so would not be able to do the trip to Winthrop. I then ordered the ticket and made my hotel reservation near the airport at the Best Western Dakota Ridge Hotel, reserved a rental car from Payless and was all set.

I was up early at 5:30 AM then after breakfast, my mother drove me to the John Wayne Airport, I went upstairs to security which was really easy and fast as I was TSA Pre-checked. I went to Gate 4 to wait for my flight, was pre-boarded and ended up with seat 17F after a couple who wanted to sit together.

My flight took off and we gained altitude above the clouds really quickly and flew to the Twin Cities. I read my newest Hockey News and did some Sudoku puzzles before watching about a third of "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales" before we landed early and then the fun began.

Once at the Payless counter on Level 1, there was no one there so I called on the phone and was told to wait outside. About twenty minutes later, they picked up seven people, including me, and drove us to the Payless Rental Car Center across Highway 11 from the Motel 6 where I was staying. With one person, it took about twenty minutes to get a Kia and drove over to the motel, where I was given Room 200. Later, I drove to the Mall of America for my first time and was really impressed with it. I went to Burger-Burger and had a great hamburger then followed a Hiawatha Green Line train over to the 28th Street station, where I would board the train tomorrow morning if all went according to plan, then returned to the Motel 6 for the night.

10/01/2017 I was up at 5:30 AM and knowing Interstate 35 West was closed, I left and took Hiawatha Boulevard into Minneapolis, crossing the Mississippi River then made my way to University Boulevard and a MacDonald's to get hot cakes and sausage to go. I then drove over to Minneapolis Junction and parked by the home shed of Milwaukee Road 261 and ate my breakfast.

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. The coal-fired locomotive, weighing 460,000 pounds, is rated at 4,500 hp and a maximum speed of 100 mph and had a three-chime whistle and airhorn mounted on it. It was used for heavy mainline freight work until being retired by the railroad in 1954. Instead of being cut up for scrap, 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. Restored in 1993, it has logged more than 25,000 miles under its own power since that time.

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 for a variety of reasons. The engine was large enough to handle the expected trains at track speed, it featured several modern features, including easier-to-maintain roller bearings and already had its asbestos lagging removed, which was very expensive to remove for environmental and safety reasons. Finally, 261's relatively short ten-year service life meant that the engine's boiler was 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. 261 was moved from Green Bay to Minneapolis to the GE shops at Humboldt Yard in September 1992 where 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 dead-headed over Wisconsin Central in time for its first public excursions on September 18 and 19, 1993 then later returned to its new home at the leased Burlington Northern's 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 when, over five days, 261 dead-headed from Minneapolis to Scranton, Pennsylvania then stayed in Scranton for the next year pulling numerous excursions, including rare mileage trips, a rare snow plough run, and the engine's first steam doubleheader with Susquehanna 142. A Hancock three-chime whistle was temporarily added to the locomotive and then replaced with an Santa Fe six-chime whistle, which it remains with today, but still also keeping its original non-Hancock three-chime whistle and airhorn. 261 returned to the Midwest after almost a year at Steamtown and on its way home, ran for the first time over the newly-formed Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway then pulled a few sets of excursions in 1997 and 1998 over BNSF and Twin Cities and Western trackage.

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 Chicago, Omaha and Kansas City, an AAPRCO special on August 29 to Duluth then a long circle trip over the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad, as well as the North Shore Railroad System, before returning home. The 2001 season had excursions out of Minneapolis and Montevideo over BNSF and Twin Cities and Western tracks during June and July with a completely-matched set 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, since the company is self insured, so the added cost of excursion insurance was much less. However, Amtrak required that all equipment met Amtrak certification so 261 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 partnership with Amtrak occurred in October 2003 with the engine's return to old Milwaukee Road tracks between Minneapolis to Winona, Minnesota and 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 re-enactment 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 travelled 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 on Friday to Sturtevant, Wisconsin, and Saturday & Sunday excursions to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. For these runs, the train was turned at New Lisbon and 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 and no diesels nor water cars were used. 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 which starred Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Though 261 was built ten years after Dillinger died, the engine 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 was a run in September 2008 on Canadian Pacific's former Milwaukee Road line from Minneapolis to Winona, with a return on BNSF's former 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 TrainFestival 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 TrainFestival 2009. After being away for three months, the 4449 arrived in Portland on October 20, 2009.

In November 2009, the Friends of the 261 and the National Railroad Museum had problems with negotiations over lease agreements. The museum was asking too much for the Friends to pay, especially while in the middle of a large overhaul. The Friends of the 261 decided to end the lease with the National Railroad Museum citing the high costs, and began looking for another locomotive to restore. In mid-January 2010, the engine was found on the website of Sterling Rail, a rail equipment broker, stating that there was a sale pending. The engine was supposedly to be sold to a California-based collector, who would have potentially let the Friends overhaul and operate the 261; however, the transaction was never completed. At the time, Steve Sandberg, CEO of the organization, said he was engaged in talks with other organizations about leasing a different engine. In an e-mail dated November 17, 2009, he informed the National Railroad Museum his organization had decided to discontinue operating 261, according to Michael E. Telzrow, executive director of the National Railroad Museum. Per the terms of their agreement, the Friends of the 261 would be responsible for returning the locomotive to the Museum. The Friends of the 261 finally were able to purchase the locomotive in May 2010 for $225,000, keeping it in Minneapolis and returning it to operation upon its rebuild.

On September 29, 2012, 261 was test-fired and ran under its own power once again. In April 2013, it successfully operated a test train on the Twin Cities and Western Railroad and ran normally from Minneapolis, then operated tender-first back to Minneapolis. On May 11, 2013 (National Train Day), 261 ran on an excursion north from Minneapolis to Duluth, where it met Soo Line 2719 for the first time then stayed in Duluth overnight and had a photo shoot with 2719. On October 12, 2013, 261 made a round trip fall colours excursion to Willmar, Minnesota and the next day, made a second round trip excursion to Boylston, Wisconsin.

On September 27, 2014, Milwaukee Road 261 ran on a round trip fall colours Excursion to Duluth, Minnesota, returning to Minneapolis on September 28, travelling on BNSF's Hinckley Subdivision. In 2014, it operated the inaugural "North Pole Express" in St. Paul then in October 2015, 261 attended the 2015 Railway Interchange Show in Minneapolis between October 4th and 7th. Three days later, it pulled a daytime round-trip excursion to Boylston, where it was wyed and returned to Minneapolis. The next day, 261 did the same to Willmar, but used a turntable to face forward for the return to Minneapolis.

In 2015, 261 travelled to St. Paul Union Depot under steam to be displayed along other equipment for "Union Depot Train Days", celebrating the 90th anniversary of the building. It was featured in a night photo shoot with Soo Line FP7 2500. On June 4, 2016, Milwaukee Road 261 ran a round trip to Duluth, returning to Minneapolis on June 5, then in October, the group operated three round trips from Minneapolis on the Twin Cities and Western Railroad, running on former Milwaukee Road tracks and operated without a diesel helper, except to be pulled back to Minneapolis as there were no places to turn the train around. In June 2017, 261 operated on the Red River Valley & Western in North Dakota from Davenport to Lisbon and Breckenridge to Kindred on public trips, as well as Red River Valley & Western employee excursion.

Milwaukee Road 261 waits for today's steam action.

The crew servicing the steam engine.

Some of the train's consist.

Conductor Ron Rahn chatting with two Milwaukee Road 261 volunteers. Just after 8:00 AM, boarding commenced and I saw Greg Molloy, a good friend and the former president of the National Railway Historical Society. As I felt the train start to move at 8:55 AM, I went to the vestibule.

Milwaukee Road 261 starts to reverse the train to the junction with the southeast wye track at Minneapolis Junction.

The skyline of downtown Minneapolis.

The home of Milwaukee Road 261. I called my friend Chris Parker in San Pedro to let him hear some steam action.

Milwaukee Road 261 reversed to then go through the first curve.

A blowdown as we commenced the excursion.

Reversing to beyond the signal bridge, where we waited to get a red-over-green signal. I called my friend Elizabeth Alkire in Lynnwood, Washington, to let her hear some steam action.

The steam engine crossed over to the southeast wye track and proceeded down it.

Milwaukee Road 261 travelled over the southeast leg of the wye.

Curving under Central Boulevard.

Crossing a branch of the Mississippi River.

Crossing the main channel of the river.

Passing Northstar Commuter Rail's Target Field station, where I would board a train tomorrow morning.

Target Field, home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins.

Lyndale Junction started my new rail mileage as I rode on the track that diverges from here in 1998 on my first 261 excursion.

The former location of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway yards and shops.

The Linden Yard yard office.

We reached Cedar Lake Junction, the junction with the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway.

Rounding the large curve just beyond there.

A few trees in autumn colours.

Crossing Highway 195.

One of the many lakes.

Farms and lakes were the order of the day.

Dairy farms.

More autumn colours.

The Minnesota countryside before we reached Bongards, the site of our photo runbys.

Milwaukee Road 261 at Bongards at Milepost 457.0 of the Twin Cities and Western Glencoe Subdivision. Everyone detrained and I started a photo line behind a barn.

The reverse move.

Photo runby 1.

Reverse move 2.

Photo runby 2. From here we went through the rain to Glencoe where it stopped just before we arrived.

Stored Twin Cities & Western Railroad motive power at Glencoe; this is as far west as we went.

Views along the side of the train before I detrained for our fifteen minute layover.

Twin Cities & Western GP39-2 2301, nee Kennecott Copper 790, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1978.

2301 would pull the train back to the Twin Cities. Once everyone was back onboard, we departed for Minneapolis Jct.

The Milwaukee Road Glencoe station.

Twin Cities & Western CF7 Slug 302, nee Santa Fe F7A 250L, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951.

Twin Cities & Western GP20C 3516, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 901, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1961.

Twin Cities & Western GP10 406, nee Illinois Central 9144, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1956.

Twin Cities & Western GP38-2 2010, nee Norfolk and Western 4104, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1971. From here I joined my new friends Jeff Stabnow, Kate and Sadie in the Super Dome for over twenty miles and good conversations were had as we travelled east.

At Norwood, the line I did not ride yesterday, joined our route.

The Norwood Young America water tower, after which I returned to the vestibule.

Rounding a curve on the return journey.

Curving into Hopkins.

The Milwaukee Road Hopkins station built in 1928.

The Minnesota & St. Louis Railway Hopkins station built in 1902.

The Milwaukee Road Jorvik Park station in St. Louis Park, built in 1887 and was operated until 1968. It now serves as a museum for the St. Louis Park Historical Society.

Northstar Commuter Train MP36PH-3C 505.

Northstar Commuter Train Sunday baseball train at the Target Field station. The crew lined us back down the southest leg of the Minneapolis Junction wye, but that would not work so we reversed up the southest leg and took the northwest leg to the BNSF mainline before we pulled back into Minneapolis Junction. I returned to the car and drove to Interstate 35 West then took Hiawatha Boulevard south in bumper-to-bumper traffic, so it took a lot longer to get back to near Motel 6. I found a Subway and bought dinner to take back to my room then worked on this story before calling it a night. It had been a great trip with Milwaukee Road 261.

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