Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In the fall 2025 Milwaukee Road 261 pulled its first excursions in several years, heading out from the Minneapolis suburbs into the windswept Northern prairie. The first excursion on October 4 travelled from Chanhassen along the Twin Cities & Western Railroad to Norwood Young America, where it turned south to take the Minnesota Prairie Line to Arlington. The train was running ahead of schedule, so the crew kept going through town and made it to just outside Winthrop before turning around. I and most of the other chasers were surprised at this development, leading to a mad scramble along highway 19 and the adjacent farm roads as we tossed aside our well-thought plans and tried to get as many shots as possible. After the train finally stopped, the beautiful orange and maroon diesel 32A brought the train back to Arlington for an extended layover for lunch and servicing the engine. After a dramatic photo runby, 32A led the train back to Chanhassen. The next morning 261 departed in a light rain, this time following the TC&W all the way to Glencoe. Despite being shorter, this excursion was special as it followed exactly the route that the Milwaukee Road's famous "Olympian Hiawatha" once took on its way from the Twin Cities across the continent to Seattle. 261 is a beautiful locomotive that's been on my to-do list for many years, I'm very glad I finally got a chance to see it in action. Despite the insane wind constantly threatening to knock my camera (and me!) over, I had a great time up North and I look forward to my next visit to the land of 10,000 lakes.
In the fall 2025 Milwaukee Road 261 pulled its first excursions in several years, heading out from the Minneapolis suburbs into the windswept Northern prairie. The first excursion on October 4 travelled from Chanhassen along the Twin Cities & Western Railroad to Norwood Young America, where it turned south to take the Minnesota Prairie Line to Arlington. The train was running ahead of schedule, so the crew kept going through town and made it to just outside Winthrop before turning around. I and most of the other chasers were surprised at this development, leading to a mad scramble along highway 19 and the adjacent farm roads as we tossed aside our well-thought plans and tried to get as many shots as possible. After the train finally stopped, the beautiful orange and maroon diesel 32A brought the train back to Arlington for an extended layover for lunch and servicing the engine. After a dramatic photo runby, 32A led the train back to Chanhassen. The next morning 261 departed in a light rain, this time following the TC&W all the way to Glencoe. Despite being shorter, this excursion was special as it followed exactly the route that the Milwaukee Road's famous "Olympian Hiawatha" once took on its way from the Twin Cities across the continent to Seattle. 261 is a beautiful locomotive that's been on my to-do list for many years, I'm very glad I finally got a chance to see it in action. Despite the insane wind constantly threatening to knock my camera (and me!) over, I had a great time up North and I look forward to my next visit to the land of 10,000 lakes.
