Old Milwaukee On The New River Gorge 

Would have been neat to see 261 do something like this. But alas, I was only 2 at the time.

mark goggin cool

bet there was a diesel on the end

@@skidoorulz4914 There wasn’t. When the New River Trains were steam hauled, the only reason diesels were on the train was to take the NRT to Hinton after the steamer that hauled the train was taken off at Meadow Creek, and even then, that was after the Hinton turntable was taken outta service in the late 80’s. Other then that, it was steam power only all the way. At least until CSX banned steam and Amtrak took over the operation and insurance of the NRT.

@@justahillbilly7777 This was an excursion train run in 1994. Many years after steam had gone away. That was a Milwaukee road loco pulling it not a CSX loco. Just my guess. But even the UP Big Boy runs with a diesel

@@skidoorulz4914 1994 was the last year that the NRT had steam at the head end, so my prior comment of diesel only coming in at Meadow Creek still stands. And the NRT’s started back in 1966 if memory serves correctly, so it’s not an excursion from the days of revenue steam ops.

@@justahillbilly7777 Better watch again. At 16 seconds in it clearly says it is a new river excursion powered by the imported 261 Milwaukee. It also mentions Amtrak. I understand this is 1994 but rarely if ever are steam trains operated on a class 1 road without diesel power in case something goes down on the steamer. You never see the end of the train in this video. You go ahead and believe what you want to believe and I will also. I did some research. Excursion fleet and support equipment Locomotives Most 261 excursions are assisted by modern diesel-electric locomotives, required by Amtrak. These engines can help pull longer trains or provide motive power if 261 were to break down en route. The diesel also provides head-end power for the passenger cars. In recent years, these have usually been GE P42DC locomotives. Sometimes, Amtrak heritage locomotives are requested, though such locomotives are not always available. In 2019, The Friends of 261 purchased a former Milwaukee Road EMD E9 to assist 261 for future non-Amtrak-insured excursions.

lucky

It’s still operating, mostly does trips out of Minneapolis each year

So true 😂

Where do you see it takes 10 diesels to pull 20 cars? Most railroads tend to overcompensate with diesel power because they’d rather have trains get through. The ability to MU gives diesels a major advantage, but mostly cuts down on crews.

@@joneau261 it was just a joke

Be willing to bet there was at least one diesel on the back pushing

@@skidoorulz4914 There wasn’t.

You’d be surprised to find that there are people who like to count the cars out there, such as myself. And besides, if it weren’t for the passenger cars, the excursions wouldn’t be able to haul people and therefor make money, so there is interest to be had in the passenger cars.

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