ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has led his team to a run at a playoff berth this season. On Monday, Dec. 9, Darnold and the team made another kind of run: they took a ride on the North Pole Express powered by Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 at St. Paul Union Depot. Darnold and his girlfriend posed in the cab and blew the whistle of the 1944 American Locomotive Co. product.
The team chartered the entire train for players and their families, and invited 80 children from the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities to take the short trip on the depot grounds. BNSF Railway assisted by moving No. 261 and the passenger equipment from its home base in Minneapolis to Union Depot.
Since 2014 the Friends of the 261/Railroading Heritage of Midwest America have operated the North Pole Express offering a 60-minute train ride on the Union Depot grounds. After departing the depot platform, the trains travel to the east end of the depot property to Santa’s Workshop, a structure built by Friends volunteers. Santa then boards the train and collects letters written to him by passengers. He visits with each child on the trip back to the depot. Volunteers offer children cookies and hot chocolate in the depot head house on their return. The Vikings charter was part of the first weekend of trips, which are pulled by are pulled by No. 261 — its only operation this year. The second weekend trains are handed by Milwaukee Road E9 No. 32A to save having to keep 261 fired up for the several days between trips.
Football and railroad fans might want to keep an eye open during the Vikings-Chicago Bears game Monday, Dec. 16. ESPN has indicated it might share a clip of the Vikings train ride during the broadcast, time permitting.
For more information on Friends of the 261/Railroading Heritage of Midwest America go to https://261.com or https://rrhma.com.
