Reassembly of Milwaukee Road 261 nearly complete

Published: September 6, 2012

Photo by Steve Glischinski

MINNEAPOLIS – Reassembly work on Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 is nearing completion, with a test fire-up scheduled before the end of September. The non-profit organization Friends of the 261 is rebuilding the locomotive at its Minneapolis shop.

This week crews are concentrating on installing lagging and jacketing on the outside of the boiler. Plans are to install the lagging and jacketing over the front of the boiler, leaving the exterior of the firebox and staybolts exposed until after a test firing is completed. That way if any leaks are found around the staybolts, the lagging won’t have to be removed.

Crews will also wait until after the engine is “broken in” before installing lagging and jacketing in the cab.

Friends of the 261 Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg told Trains News Wire while there are no excursions planned for the locomotive in 2012, he expects that the engine will pull main line trips in the spring of 2013.

The 1944 Alco last operated in September 2008, when it came due for its mandatory federal inspection. Rebuild work began that month, but slowed because of a lease dispute between the Friends of the 261 and the locomotive’s then-owner, the National Railroad Museum of Green Bay, Wis. The Friends purchased the locomotive from the museum in May 2010, and rebuilding work has been ongoing since that time