Milwaukee Road 261 is a
4-8-4 "Northern" type
steam locomotive built by the
American Locomotive Company, (ALCO), in
Schenectady, New York in July 1944 for the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. It was used for heavy mainline freight work until being retired by the railroad in 1954. Instead of being cut up for
scrap, the 261 was preserved and donated to the
National Railroad Museum in
Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1958. Today the locomotive is owned, operated, and maintained by
Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization
Friends of the 261, which runs seasonal
excursion trains using the 261. The steam engine, restored in 1993, has logged more than under its own power since that time.