Milwaukee Road 261 and passenger consist

[BrandonS261]

As many of you have seen I have already released the 261 and a few of the passenger cars and currently working on the Caritas as well for Open Rails. That being said I have decided to do a complete rebuild of the 261 from the ground up to make it even more accurate, fix errors and make it use all of the latest features of Open Rails.

I currently have been working on updates to the passenger cars that I have already released in the File Library's along with building new ones for the 261 to pull.

Being part of the crew for years and now being a photographer for the group I have more photos of the locomotive and cars then most would know what to do with. I was with the locomotive this past weekend for its fall color trips I noticed many things that are either missing or could easily be updated on the model I built quite a few years ago now.

As for the Milw 261 fleet that I am either working on or updating at the moment are as followed.

This includes currently owned cars or ones the group has owned in the past

Water Tender 250002- Updating
Earling tool car- Updating- Ex Milwaukee Road Beaver Tail Obs car
MILW Concession car 2450- Updating- Ex UP Baggage Car
MILW Baggage car Golden Valley- Updating- Ex Frisco 1522 tool car/NP baggage car
Caritas Observation Car- Updating- Will include all of the paint schemes it has been in over the years of operation
MILW Coach Cars Norkomis and Wenona- Under Construction- Ex NKP 765 coach cars- Ex Algoma Central/Central of Georgia Railroad
MILW Baggage car Shoreview- Under Construction-Ex NKP 765 Concession car/NYC Baggage Car- Now owned by CPKC for CP 2816
MILW Combine Grand Canyon- Under Construction-Now owned by CPKC for CP 2816
MILW coach cars Buckeye Lake and Buckeye Trail- Under Construction- Ex NKP 765 coach cars- Now owned by the Austin Steam Train Association
MILW 32A E9- Under Construction

Future projects

Wisconsin and St Croix Valley
Super Dome 53
Cedar Rapids
Oliver Hazard Perry
Bella Vista
MILW Buisness Cars Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Montana
Amtrak ex PRR Clocker Coaches Arizona, St Paul Pass and Lake Pepin- All owned by new owners now.
Ex WP Silver Palace Dome- Now owned by new owner
Lamberts Point- Ex N&W Business Car- Now owned by Reading and Northern

Almost all of these cars have been used behind many mainline steam locomotives and mainline excursions so they will end up becoming a great addition to any modern day excursion or a trip behind Amtrak.

Brandon

[Unoriginal]

Can’t wait to see all of these finished! 261 had an outing a couple days ago with most of these cars on it.

Will make a correction though, 202 and 203 were bought from the algoma central, not the NKP765/Fort Wayne folks. Although ex L&N coaches 200 “Hiawatha” and 201 “Minnehara” were from that group and are no longer owned by them. They also bought ex L&N coach 713 and ex C&O coach 714 “Lawton Park” from them but those never got the Milwaukee paint.

[BrandonS261]

Yes you are correct for 202 and 203. When I wrote this out the other night I was thinking of those other cars that they got from NKP 765 group.

I do plan on eventually repainting all of the cars to their previous and or current owners depending on if the cars are still on our roster or not.

I have also been kicking around the idea of building all of the ex L&N tenders that have been used behind many mainline steam locomotives over the years.

I just feel the steam and private car downloads are either lacking or very outdated so I thought I might as well start building them the way I want. As the old saying goes if you want something done right do it yourself.

Brandon

[Unoriginal]

I think I had sent you a PM awhile back with a spreadsheet I made with all of their cars, if you wanted to know the origins

would certainly have use for the other water tenders. NW 611 is currently running with one of them, sister number to the one the 261 guys have.

[BrandonS261]

First car up for rebuilding was the Earling Tool Car. This car I ended up having to take completely apart and rebuild it from the ground up after studying the car the weekend of the 261 trips and also looking at photos of the car.

I had to completely take the sides off and put new ones on, change the textures and repaint the car. I also added quite a bit more details to the car to make it more prototypical along with moving some stuff that was out of place on the car.

Here are the results.
Messenger_creation_BA250E9F-DCA8-45C7-B596-EB7761162B5F.jpg Messenger_creation_6A553BC1-E1CB-452A-98BA-CD00D08663B2.jpg Messenger_creation_CC51693D-A597-43B0-A165-94FDDE158009.jpg Messenger_creation_843161D4-6F5A-4BDA-A84E-5B47B5D61246.jpg
As you can see there are two different versions. One without port hole windows and one with. This is because the port hole windows were added later after the 261 had been in excursion service for a few years.

The next few cars I am currently working on to fix up and enhance are the ex UP and NP Baggage cars. The ex UP Baggage car is our concession car and the ex NP Baggage named Golden Valley is a bar car..

I am also working on our ex NYC Baggage Car Shoreview along with our 2 coach cars that are the ex Algoma Central cars.

I hope you like what you see so far because there are many more to come.

Brandon

[Unoriginal]

I was just curious, you know when they added the portholes to the car?

[BrandonS261]

I think it was the late 90's early 2000's.

[BrandonS261]

Next up on the upgrade list is the ex UP Baggage car. This one really needed an upgrade as I originally built the car as an 85 foot car and not a 73 foot car like it should be. I have fixed that issue along with adding in some more detail to the car as well.

Here are the results.

Screenshot 2025-10-17 132819.png Screenshot 2025-10-17 132842.png Screenshot 2025-10-17 132804.png

I am still in need of fixing some issues with the car along with putting some stuff in there proper places on the car. I should be able to get the car back into the game tonight or tomorrow at some point if all goes according to plan. After that will be an upgrade to the ex NP Baggage car that came from the FRISCO 1522 group that is now named Golden Valley after a town in Minnesota.

Brandon

[BrandonS261]

A little bit more progress tonight on the NSRX 2450 ex UP baggage car. Again this car I had to completely rip apart and rebuild from the ground up because there were so many mistakes. I have also added quite a bit more detail that was not added before and still may even add more. I have also been upgrading the textures with the cars but the layout for the textures will make it hard for them to be repainted as the cars all use the same texture files.

This does not mean that I will not be updating them to be separate in the future because I do have plans of repainting all of the cars into there previous paint schemes like I have with the Caritas. That one also still needs a little work before being released.

So here are the cars I have completed so far or are close to being done!

Earling tool car. Ex Beaver Tail Obs car converted to Baggage Car by the Milwaukee Road.Screenshot 2025-10-17 221101.png
Screenshot 2025-10-17 221126.png

Shoreview ex concession car/NYC Baggage Car



Coach cars Norkomis and Wenona both ex Algoma Central/Central of Georgia cars.

Screenshot 2025-10-17 221208.pngEx Tool Car Grand Canyon. Sold to CPKC for CP 2816 steam locomotive. Ex US Army car.

Screenshot 2025-10-17 221429.png
Baggage Bar Car Golden Valley ex FRISCO 1522 tool car/Ex NP Baggage Car.

Screenshot 2025-10-17 221312.png

I am currently working on 7 different passenger cars to go with the 261 if you include the Caritas as one and will also be updating the Water Tender as well. The reason for the two different Earling cars is because originally the Earling did not have port hole windows and were eventually added some time in the mid 2000's

I have plenty more cars to come but these are the ones I am currently working on. I do not have a time line for these cars or an idea when I will be releasing them as I would like to get most of the fleet done before releasing anything more.

Once I get most of the fleet completed then it will be time for the Milw 261 its self to go down for a 1472 or 15 year rebuild from the ground up so it can look just as good as the cars do.

I have more up my sleeve then just these cars so look on the forums for what else I have been working on.

Brandon

[jbtower]

Amazing work Brandon

[BrandonS261]

Thank you Kevin.

I haven't had much time to work on the project this week since going back to work but I was able to sit down for a couple of hours tonight and work on it a little bit. NSRX 2450 still needs some work before I can get it exported but its getting much closer to being completed. I hope you all like what you see so far. After this car is completed I will move onto the two other baggage cars I have been working on and updating them. Those are the Golden Valley, ex NP/FRISCO 1522 tool car and the Shoreview, ex NYC Baggage car and old concession car for the 261 group.

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[BrandonS261]

Just finishing up NSRX 2450 Concession car. Still have a few things to work out texture wise but other then that the car is completed. Next up is the Golden Valley ex NP Baggage car then after that it will be the ex Algoma Central 202 and 203 and Baggage Car Shoreview. I have also started work on ex US Army baggage dorm car the Grand Canyon tool car as well.

Brandon

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[BrandonS261]

Well guys time for an update on what I have been up to this weekend.

Here are some photos to prove it!

As you can see I have been quite busy building none other then MILW 261 passenger cars and upgrading the old cars that I have already released. These are all brand new custom built cars specific to the real ones that are pulled behind Milwaukee Road 261. They are also all custom painted lettered and numbered according to the passenger car.

A ton of time and effort has been made to make sure all of the cars are built as close to the prototypes as possible and I hope you all enjoy what you see so far.

Next up will be finishing up the Grand Canyon dorm/tool car and the old concession car Shoreview along with starting on the Ex Milwaukee Road Sleeper Minnesota River and the two ex US Army Cars that are named the St Croix Valley and Wisconsin Valley.

I will also be making some of the old passenger cars that have been previously owned by the group such as the Buckeye Lake and Buckeye Trail.

Brandon

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[BrandonS261]

Decided to start whipping this one up real quick this morning. Still have quite a bit of work to go but its a start.

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[BrandonS261]

Hey guys, So I am just about finished with the Grand Canyon Tool/Dorm car along with the old Concession car Shoreview and debating on what car or cars I should build next.

Here are the ones that are finished so far

Earling Baggage/Tool Car
Coach Cars NSRX 202 Wenonah and NSRX 203 Nokomis
Concession Car NSRX 2450
Baggage Car Golden Valley
Caritas Obs car

The ones I am looking at building next are either the Minnesota River Sleeper, St Croix Valley and Wisconsin Valley identical first class cars or Oliver Hazard Perry First Class car, Super Dome 53 or the pride and joy of the fleet Cedar Rapids.

Other cars I will be building

Lamberts Point Observation car
MKT 403 Observation car
Bella Vista Dome Observation car
Montana Observation Car
Milwaukee Observation business car

A few other cars I am also looking at building that are no longer in the fleet

Coach cars Buckeye Lake and Buckeye Trail- Both Sold in 2006
Silver Palace Dome car- Sold in 2023
Fox River Valley lounge car- Sold in 2023
Ex PRR Clocker coaches St Paul Pass, Arizona and Lake Peppen- All sold Arizona and St Paul Pass sold in 2012 Lake Peppen sold in 2023

I will also say I did have a hand in the paint scheme that is on the Milwaukee Road E9 32A that the group has as well and plan on building that when time permits.