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Milwaukee Road 261 Breckenridge to Kindred 6/3/2017

Sleeping in was rare but Bill and I were able to do that this morning then had a good breakfast and left the Knights Inn in Breckenridge, North Dakota late morning.

Bill and I filled up the rental car and drove out to Dwight to wait for the Red River Valley Employee Train. Soon Bart and Sarah Jennings joined us.

The view of Dwight, named for Jeremiah W. Dwight, the owner of the Dwight Farm and Land Company which ran a 27,000 acre bonanza farm, organized in 1879, in the area.

Bart, Sarah and Bill wait for a train that may never come from that direction.

Looking east, the way we thought the train would come from. Later the Jennings left then reported that only Milwaukee Road 261 was in Breckenridge so we waited before I called the number on the crossing signal box and asked if a special train was running today from the north, to which I received the response that it would be in Dwight within an hour.

My photo location. After a three hour wait, I first heard the train's horn then suddenly we were joined by six other photographers who appeared out of thin air.

The Red River Valley Railroad Employee train. We returned to the Knights Inn to freshen up for tonight's excursion.

Milwaukee Road 261 was damaged by a Canadian Pacific Railway ramp diamond last night which was the reason for the diesel pulling the Red River Valley employee train this afternoon. Last night, the crew cooled off the engine then a new patch was welded to fix the leak and the steam pressure brought back to normal. The patch worked and the engine was deemed good to pull the train back from Kindred to Breckenridge. It was a great job by everyone on the Milwaukee Road 261 steam crew.

The Great Northern Breckenridge station built in 1901.

Rocky the Mountain Goat, the emblem of the Great Northern Railroad.

Great Northern caboose X111 "Red River Express" built by International Car in 1967.

The rear of Milwaukee Road 261.

Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261.

The author beside one of his favourite steam engines.

After two groups were boarded, Bill and I then did so and chose seats in the first coach car, the "Grand Canyon".

The train was almost ready to depart. I was offered a Super Dome ticket for an upgrade of $50 and was seated with three new friends, including one who read my website.

Observation Car "Dagny Taggart", built by Budd Car Company in 1949 for the New York Central Railroad and owned by the North Shore Scenic Railroad.

The levee for the Red River of the North.

The train crossed the Red River of the North and the state line into North Dakota.

The former Great Northern mainline heads north to Fargo.

Miles of North Dakota farmland were passed on our late afternoon journey.

A pair of deer sightings.

More North Dakota farms.

Rolled hay and the truck that takes it away from the fields.

Fields are all over this region.

The Sheyenne River crossing just before Kindred.

The Kindred Great Northern station.

The Kindred station sign as we were reaching our northernmost point. I wrote this travelogue in the baggage car and let Bill use my Super Dome ticket on the return trip. My mother and Elizabeth kept me updated on Game Three of the Stanley Cup Final with Jake Guentzel scoring the only goal of the first period against the Nashville Predators.

A special thank you to the entire Friends of the 261 and the Red River Valley Railroad for two days of excellent train rides and a great chase yesterday. That is why I am a lifetime member of this organization.

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