“Return of Milwaukee Road’s Steam Engine #261 to the rails” will be the subject of an illustrated talk by Dr. Joseph Winberry to Harrisburg Chapter National Railway Historical Society September 13 at Hoss’s Restaurant, 743 Wertzville Rd., Enola, PA. Business meeting and speaker begin at 7 pm, with a meal available as early as 5 pm. Dinner and meeting are open to the public.
Milwaukee Road 261 is a coal-burning, Northern (4-8-4) steam engine built in 1944 by American Locomotive Works in Schenectady, NY, for the Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. It was retired in 1954 and donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. In 1991, the museum and a group called “The Friends of the 261”agreed to a lease to restore the engine and operate it from Minneapolis, MN.
From 1993—2008, the engine logged over 25,00 miles on rail fan trips and longer cross-country excursions. The presentation will cover its most recent restoration
completed in 2013.
Dr. Winberry has maintained an optometry practice in central Pennsylvania for more than 28 years. He is a graduate of Illinois College of Optometry, Chicago, IL and Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. He counts golf, model railroading, photography, and antique motorcycles as avocations. He has traveled extensively in the United States and Canada. In 2004, he became one of the few people to traverse Route 66 from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA on a Triumph motorcycle.
Harrisburg Chapter, one of over 135 chapters of the National Railway Historical Society, is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to studying railroad history and preserving significant local railroad artifacts. Major projects include: maintaining Pennsylvania’s official electric locomotive (GG-1 # 4859), and preserving and operating Harris Tower.
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www.harristower.org
