On Saturday, September 29th, 2012, the fire was lit in the boiler of a steam locomotive that has been in the shop since 2008: the Milwaukee Road 261. The engine was moved a few feet up and back on trackage located on the grounds of the former Great Northern diesel shop at Minneapolis Junction in Minneapolis, MN. The engine was kept outside under steam into the evening, which allowed for some railfans to indulge in night photography of the engine before she was put back inside.
It was an event that almost did not happen, because in November of 2009 a dispute arose over the next extension of the lease 261 operator Friends of the 261 had with the locomotives original owner, the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. At one point it looked like the excursion years had ended for the venerable Class S-3 4-8-4 built by Alco for the Milwaukee Road in 1944.
