Milwaukee Road 261 DVD combo by Yard Goat Images

The Return of Milwaukee Road 261
Milwaukee Road 261 is a coal-burning 4-8-4 steam locomotive built in 1944 during World War II by the American Locomotive Company. As the railroad converted to diesels, 261 was retired in 1954 after a somewhat brief career and donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1991, the Museum and a group which later became the Friends of the 261 agreed to a lease agreement to restore the engine and operate it from a base in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The fully restored locomotive performed amazingly well, and logged over 25,000 miles during its first 15 years of excursion service from late 1993 through late 2008. After negotiation regarding a new 15 year lease, the museum agreed to sell the locomotive to the Friends of the 261.
The locomotive was extensively rebuilt again, and operated its first public excursion on a very blustery weekend in May, 2013. This highly anticipated trip took riders from Minneapolis to Duluth, Minnesota on Saturd