Home > Rafi on the Rails > Archives > 2008 > May > 20 > Entry
Empire Builder: A new friend of the 261
-No sleeper upgrade. I was initially booked coach on this leg of the trip back home from St. Paul, MN to Baltimore, since it’s just a day trip. I figured I’d ask the conductor about an upgrade anyway, though (just $75). Unfortunately I got one of those conductors who doesn’t want to really be bothered with onboard upgrades, so I didn’t push it when he said he didn’t have anything (he had at least 8 roomettes, however, according to Amtrak.com).
-The Empire Builder continues to impress. The onboard services crew, as a whole, were exemplary. The food was scrumptious as always. The Rails and Trails National Park Services guides were also onboard and have been providing wonderful commentary in the sightseeing car the entire trip. Which brings me to what is likely the highlight of this trip, if not the month: The 261.
What is the 261? Take a look here. Read on to find out what happened with the 261 and me today.
Now, I first learned about the 261 back in June of 2005. I was on the California Zephyr to Provo, Utah for a conference, and we were terminated in Denver, Colorado because of a rockslide between there and Provo. They were working on busses for us to board instead, and in the meantime, I happened to walk to the back of our train and found three vintage private cars, one of which was this incredible glass-encased observation car (see photo to right). The owners were nice enough to let me walk through, and I’ll never forget the experience. To this day I still hope to one day travel in that car.
Anyway, the owners mentioned they were part of this group called “The Friends of the 261.” I inquired what that was, exactly, and they explained that they were based out of Milwaukee and maintained this huge, vintage steam engine that they use for excursion trips. It wasn’t long before I found their website and had that engine on my “must see” list.
Well, check that off as of about an hour ago.
Remember those Rails and Trails guides I mentioned? One of them was a railfan and mentioned to the folks in the sightseeing car that the 261 was scheduled to wait for us in Milwaukee before it continued on to St. Paul. I leapt to my feet, rushed to the lower level of my coach car and waited for our train to slow to a stop at the platform. At just about that time, the conductor came on the intercom to let us know that while this was a “smoke stop,” we wouldn’t be stopped for more than five minutes. I looked at my watch: 4:50. That gave me until 4:55. The door opened, and I was off running toward the rear of our train. As I cleared the last car, the 261 came into sight and I took these pictures:
And then the engineer motioned for me to climb in.
Three minutes until my train left. I couldn’t resist. I grabbed the black handrail and hoisted myself into the cab like a kid into a treehouse. I didn’t have the sense of mind in my stupor to ask for a picture of me in the cab, but I did shoot these pictures of the firebox. Why the firebox? I’m not sure. It was probably a subconscious thing because I’ve never been in a steam engine that’s fired—they’ve all been cold and in most cases, decades removed from service.
So that’s my 261 story. One day I hope to actually spend some more time in that engine, but for now, it’s more than I ever expected. What a delight.
Oh, and yes, I made it back to my train with less than a minute to spare.
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