Choice Mercies of Yesterday
Go back, then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all may be dark now, light up the lamps of the past, they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord till the day break and the shadows flee away. -- C. Spurgeon The choice mercies of a yesterday, the fond memories that surface from the depths of times past. These are special moments that go ever forward. Included here are just a few of such memories from the summer of 2002. The location is Central Illinois along the BNSF mains that radiate from the Chicago hub, the subject is Milwaukee's own 261, a 1944 Alco returned to service in 1993. The Milwaukee Road 261 was born as a coal-fired 4-8-4 Northern in the midst of World War. A few siblings of 261 were oil burners that spent their years running the 'gap' out in Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. This bridged the two electrified components of the Milwaukee's Western Extension. The 261 was hel