Milwaukee Road No. 261

Milwaukee Road No. 261 is an S3 Class 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive. It was retired from revenue service in August 1954 and originally donated in 1958 to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin. It was later restored to operating condition in 1993 by the Friends of the 261 and still operates as of today in occasional excursion service. 
==History==
No. 261 was built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in July 1944 for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, or the "Milwaukee Road". The locomotive operated freight and passenger trains on the system until it was retired from service in August 1954. 
After retirement, the engine was originally sent to be scrapped, but it was bought by and donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1958, where it remained on display for thirty-three years. In 1991, a group called "North Star Rail" selected the 261 for restoration for mainline service. It was removed from display in September 1992 and was moved into Minneapolis to the GE shops at Humboldt Yard. 261 returned to active service in 1993 and made its first excursion run on September 18 and 19. 
Some time later, it was later moved to its new home at the Burlington Northern's Minneapolis Junction Depot. As of today, the locomotive is currently owned by the "Friends of the 261" and it runs in occasional excursion service In 2020, Milwaukee Road No. 261 debut's which served as its "trial run" (or test run) to demonstrate or prove Milwaukee Road No. 261 into San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society by Metrolink.
==Trivia==
*Milwaukee Road 261's only surviving sister is number 265, which is kept on immaculate static display at the Illinois Railway Museum, in Union, IL.
*Like other engines on the Milwaukee Road, including sister 265 and other Northerns, 261 was built with both a steam whistle, initially an MILW 3 Chime and now an ATSF 6 chime, and an air horn, which is a Leslie A125.
*In April 2013, it successfully operated a test train on the Twin Cities and Western Railroad. It ran normally from Minneapolis and then operated tender-first back to Minneapolis.
*In 1994, it was relettered, and renumbered as Lackawanna No. 1661 for a Steamtown video.
*On March 11, 2021, a $200,000 proposal was made to eventually covert the locomotive from a coal burner to an oil burner. This is not the first time a Milwaukee Road S3 class locomotive has been converted to an oil burner, as sister locomotive Nos. 262, 263, 267, and 269 were converted to oil burners during their revenue service careers.
*As of late 2021, the Friends of the 261 is considering on installing Positive Train Control (PTC) technology on 261.
==Filming==
*Milwaukee Road No. 261 Made An Appearance In The 1991 Film Flight Of The Navigator 2 Dressed As Southern Railway 261
*No. 261 also appeared in "Public Enemies".
*No. 261 also appeared in "Milwaukee Road 261 in "The Choo Choo Bob Show" episode Choo Choo Charlie".
==See also==
*Gallery
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:4-8-4 locomotives
Category:4-8-4 steam locomotives
Category:ALCO locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:Milwaukee Road locomotives
Category:Eight-coupled locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Built in 1944
Category:Excursion locomotives
Category:Locomotives featured in media
Category:Locomotives
Category:American steam locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Restored locomotives
Category:Rebuilds
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:Milwaukee Road Class S3