Milwaukee Road 261 along the Mississippi River
Photos from September 2008, featuring Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 #261 (built 1944) with passenger excursions to Winona, La Crescent, and La Crosse celebrating Minnesota's Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary). The non-profit "Friends of the 261" leased, restored, and operated the locomotive from 1993 to 2008. However, following unsuccessful negotiations to renew the locomotive's lease in 2009, the 261 is being returned for static display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is unlikely to ever run again.