Milwaukee Road No. 261

Milwaukee Road No. 261 is a class S3 4-8-4 “Northern” type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at its Schenectady, New York works in July 1944. It was the second of ten S3-class locomotives ordered by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the Milwaukee Road) during World War II to haul heavy mainline freight and, when needed, fast passenger trains between Chicago and the Twin Cities and on to Omaha, Nebraska. With 74-inch drivers, a 250 psi boiler, and 62,119 lbf of tractive effort, the S3 class combined high speed capability with the pulling power required for wartime traffic loads.

No. 261 spent its working life hauling freight, mail, and occasional passenger extras until dieselization caught up with the Milwaukee Road’s steam fleet. It made its final revenue runs in December 1954 and was formally retired in August 1956. Rather than being scrapped, it was donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1958, where it sat on static display for more than three decades.

In 1993 the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Friends of the 261 completed a full restoration to operating condition, and No. 261 became the first Milwaukee Road steam locomotive to move under its own power since 1957. Since then it has logged more than 25,000 miles in excursion service across the upper Midwest, pulling trips on host railroads including the Twin Cities & Western. Friends of the 261 continues to own, maintain, and operate the locomotive out of Minneapolis, running seasonal excursions that keep one of the last big Northern-type steam locomotives from the Milwaukee Road actively in service.