Milwaukee Road Engine No. 261 pulling a three-hour, 74-mile round trip evening excursion from Davenport to Lisbon, N.D. The train departed Davenport at 6 p.m. over the Red River Valley & Western’s Fourth Subdivision.

The Friends of the 261 purchased the locomotive in May, 2010 for $225,000 from the National Railroad Museum, keeping it in Minneapolis and returning it to operation upon its rebuild.

The Friends of the 261 purchased numerous passenger and baggage cars for use on excursions.

All are painted in the Milwaukee Road's famed "Hiawatha" orange and maroon unless otherwise noted. Trains pulled by the 261 usually feature the distinctive Skytop Lounge Cedar Rapids, created by the noted industrial designer Brooks Stevens, and built by the Milwaukee Road shops for Hiawatha service in 1948. This car, completely upgraded in 2004, and an interior restoration in 2014, is equipped with 24 Rota-Cline seats, 12 seats in the Solarium, one drawing room/kitchenette. It is commonly paired with a 54-seat full length dome, Super Dome No. 53, built by Pullman-Standard for Milwaukee Road in 1952.