There was thunder in the Poconos as Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261 takes 19 freight cars for a ride one summer day for a band of photographers. After an idea that was cooked up over a spaghetti dinner at Villa Maria's in Hyde Park after another successful 261 steam trip, more than 40 people paid $261 each for a day of photography. The freight cars were outbounds sitting in front of the Lackawanna station in Scranton. Other than making a move to get gondolas behind the tender for a better back-shot, and a coach instead of a caboose, the train was the real thing. The sound and cinders were also real. Thank you, 261 and its crew, for showing this generation what a Lackawanna Pocono on those Pocono Mountain grades feels like.
