'Twas lunch time, I was bored out of my skull, and I only work about 10 blocks from Harrison Street, the home of Milwaukee Road 261, so I decided to wander over and see what was going on. Wish I'd brought my digital camera, so I could share some images. Will the next time.

Anyhow, wandered in and Steve Sandberg and company were working on an ex-Pennsy 70 seater, I'm told off the Capitol Limited. The stainless steel sides were very shiny, the coach had been reglazed and was ready to be painted (along the window strip, anyway).

The coach was outside, its trucks were elsewhere being overhauled and it was sitting on some kind of stands that were bolted to the rails. I'd never seen anything quite like that. I think Saturday I'll get some pictures to share.

The only firm thing as yet is that 261 will be running next summer. Nothing has firmed up yet, but there are a number of trips in the planning stage according to Steve.

The Cedar Rapids has been making runs to Chicago on the Empire Builder as a chartered car, which raises money for the operation and maintenance of the steam locomotive and the coach fleet.

The 261 crew is an amazing bunch of people and I'm in awe of what they've accomplished in the last 12 years.

Regards,
Doug

Doug,
The two Budd-built stainless steel coaches in the #261 fleet are former Pennsy "Congressional" and/or "Senator" coaches. They had their seating capacity increased and operated in "Clocker" service between Philadelphia and New York and eventually ended up on the Adironack. They were also in Chicago - Port Huron service for a short while just prior to their retirement. Robert Franzen's sister car, "Arizona" operated in the Grand Excursion trainset and most recently operated in this year's edition of the "New River" train. These are great high capacity coaches and are in nice condition.

Don C.