Sleeping in is a rare event for me. After completing last night's story, I called Elizabeth so she could proof it. After a good breakfast I wrote the Rollag story then put it up. The proofs for both stories came back so I posted them then then did my rail mileage for the web site before we left the Knights Inn this late morning.
Catching the Employee Train.Bill and I filled up the rental car then drove out to Dwight to wait for the Red River Valley Employee Train. Soon Bart and Sarah Jennings joined us.
The view of Dwight.
Bart, Sarah and Bill wait for a train that may never came from that direction.
Looking east the way we thought the train would come from. Later the Jennings left then reported that only Milwaukee Road 261 was in Breckenridge so we waited before I called the number on the crossing signal box and asked "Was a special train running today from the north?" He replied, "It would be in Dwight within an hour".
My photo location in Dwight. After a three hour wait, I first heard the train's horn then suddenly we were joined by six other photographers who appeared out of thin air. The train arrived at Dwight, North Dakota.
The Red River Employee Train. We returned to the Knights Inn to clean up for tonight's trip.
Milwaukee Road 261 Beckenridge to Kindred 6/3/2017Milwaukee Road 261 was damaged by a Canadian Pacific Railway ramp diamond last night which was the reason for the diesel pulling the Red River Valley employee train this afternoon. Last night they cooled off the engine then a new patch was welded on fixing the leak, the steam pressure was brought back to normal, the patch worked and the engine was deemed good to pull the train back from Kindred to Breckenridge. A great job by everyone on the Milwaukee Road 261 steam crew.
The Great Northern Breckenridge station built in 1901.
Rocky the Mountain Goat, the emblem of the Great Northern Railroad.
Great Northern caboose X111 "Red River Express" built by International Car in 1967.
The rear of Milwaukee Road 261.
Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261.
Me and the very alive steam engine.
After they boarded two groups, they allowed us to board and we took a seat in the first coach car, the "Grand Canyon".
The train was almost ready to depart. I was offered a Super Dome ticket for an upgrade of $50 and was seated with three new friends, including one who reads my website.
Observation Car "Dagny Taggart" built by Budd Car Company in 1949 for the New York Central Railroad and owned by the North Shore Scenic Railroad.
The levee for the Red River of the North.
The train crossed the Red River of the North and the state line into North Dakota.
The former Great Northen mainline heads north to Fargo.
Miles of North Dakota farmland were passed on our late afternoon journey.
We had a pair of deer sightings on the northbound trip.
More North Dakota farms.
Rolled hay and the truck that takes it away from the fields.
Fields are all over this region of North Dakota.
The Sheyenne River crossing right before Kindred.
The Kindred Great Northern station.
The Kindred station sign as we were reaching our farthest point north on this trip. I worked on this story in the baggage car and I let Bill use my Super Dome ticket on the return trip. My mother and Elizabeth kept me updated on game three of the Stanley Cup with Jake Guentzel scoring the only goal of the first period. A special thank you to the entire Friends of the Milwaukee Road 261 and the Red River Valley Railroad for two days of excellent train rides and a great chase yesterday. This is why I am a lifetime member of this organization.
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