Hiawatha (passenger train)
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The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the Milwaukee Road), and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The first Hiawatha trains ran in 1935. By 1947, there were five routes carrying the Hiawatha name:
- The Twin Cities Hiawatha — the main line route From Chicago, Milwaukee to St. Paul and Minneapolis;
- The North Woods Hiawatha — a spur route off the Chicago-Minnesota main line leading from New Lisbon, Wisconsin to Minocqua, Wisconsin
- The Chippewa-Hiawatha — connected Chicago to Ontonagon in Michigan's Upper Peninsula via Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
- The Midwest Hiawatha — utilized the Milwaukee Road's mainline across Illinois and Iowa to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Omaha, Nebraska (the train split into two parts in Manilla, Iowa).
- The Olympian Hiawatha — which traversed the Milwaukee mainline from Chicago-Twin Cities-Seattle/Tacoma.
The Hiawatha innaugurated service between Chicago and the Twin Cities on May 29, 1935, on a regular 6 hour schedule covering 410 miles (660 km). The first Milwaukee Road Hiawathas were streamlined lightweight trains designed to meet competition from the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad's (Burlington Route) Zephyrs and Chicago & Northwestern's '400. Unlike the diesel-powered Zephyrs, the Hiawatha trains were pulled by steam locomotives, though the trains were by no means slow. In fact, these locomotives (Milwaukee classes A and F7) were some of the fastest steam engines ever built, with schedule times on some routes requiring speeds of well over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Some believe that these trains, styled by Otto Kuhler, may have broken the official steam locomotive speed record set by the Mallard, as the trains were said to exceed 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) on a regular basis; but there is no actual evidence of this happening (mainly because the speed was illegal in America then.)
Like the Burlington Zephyr and Union Pacific's City of Salina spectators regularly lined the tracks to watch the streamlined Hiawathas and the Milwaukee Road train quickly became an icon of streamlining. The Twin Cities Hiawatha ran twice daily in each direction, with morning and afternoon trains. Unlike the competition, the Hiawatha train was not articulated and could be changed in length, depending on service needed. It competed in the hot Chicago-Twin Cities market with the Chicago & Northwestern '400, and Burlington's Twin Cities Zephyr.
Due to its great economic success, in 1936-37 the Milwaukee Road completely re-equipped the original Hiawathas with a new Hiawatha based roughly on the 1935 design. In 1938, the train was re-equipped again with the rib-sided 1938 Hiawatha with its famous finned beaver-tail observation car was designed by noted industrial designer Otto Kuhler.
With the delivery of the 1938 trainsets, the original 1935 Hiawatha equipment was reassigned to the Chicago to Omaha/Sioux City route where it ran as the Midwest Hiawatha. Another train, The Northwoods Hiawatha, ran with older cars from earlier series also.
Two sets of passenger diesel locomotives were purchased in 1941: a back to back set of EMD E-6, the 15, and a back to back set of Alco/GE DL-109 locomotives, the #14. The Twin Cities Hiawatha was partially equipped in May 1942 with coaches, two diners, and two Tip Top Tap cars which ran with the 1938 Beaver Tails and parlors. Older series of cars were modified with skirting to run with the newer consists. During the following War years, the trains were maxed out with 15 car consists, and one of the 1942 cars painted in patriotic red, white & blue proclaiming "Buy War Bonds." The train was so full, that people had to sit on suitcases, or stand in aisles.
In 1947 and 1948 the Milwaukee Road again reequipped it major passenger routes with new lightweight equipment.
A new long distance Hiawatha the Olympian Hiawatha from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest was inaugurated in 1947. The sleeper cars and Skytop sleepers were not delivered until the late 1940's, so the train ran with Pullman heavyweights on the rear end, until delivery of the new cars. The train was designed by famous designer Brooks Stevens of Milwaukee. Six bedroom Skytop sleepers were created, which had more windows and a more bulbus rear end than their parlor Skytop counterparts on the Twin Cities Hiawatha. This train ceased operations on May 22, 1961,and the equipment was sold off to CN in Canada. One car, the Coffee Creek from the Olympian Hiawatha is undergoing restoration. (http://www.coffeecreek.info/)
In 1948, the new Twin Cities Hiawatha was inaugurated with new diesel-powered trains designed by industrial designer Brooks Stevens. The new trains included the distinctive Skytop Lounge observation cars. The train made its debut on May 29th, 1948, on the anniversary of the first Hiawatha, May 29, 1935.
The Morning Hiawatha (trains 5 and 6) and Afternoon Hiawatha (trains 3 and 2) continued to operate between Chicago and Minneapolis until the latter train was discontinued on January 23, 1970. During this period both trains operated with a consist including coaches, a Super Dome lounge car, dining car (sometimes a Tip Top Tap car) and a distinctive observation car known as the Skytop Lounge. Designed by Brooks Stevens, four of these beautiful cars contained a drawing room, swiveling parlor seats and at the rear there was a lounge area with a large expanse of glass windows. Skytop Cedar Rapids has been beautifully restored and it is owned by a Minneapolis-based organization that operates Milwaukee Road 261, a large steam locomotive. Starting in 1955, with the Milwaukee Road handling the Union Pacific "Cities" trains from Omaha and Chicago, passenger equipment was painted in the Union Pacific armour yellow with harbor grey mist with red scotchlite striping. The rest of the fleet was painted this way, except for the heavyweight commuter cars in Chicago. The last runs of the Morning Hiawatha were on April 30, 1971, immediately prior to Amtrak.
From June 5, 1971, until October 1, 1979, there was a service known as North Coast Hiawatha that ran from Chicago, Illinois, to Seattle, Washington. At present, the Hiawatha is the name of an 85-mile (137 km) train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
Today, the Hiawatha still lives on with Chicago-Milwaukee Amtrak "Hiawatha Service." (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Vertical_Route_Page&cid=1081256321481&c=am2Route&ssid=133) The Amtrak "Empire Builder" traverses the original route of the Twin Cities Hiawatha also between Chicago-Minneapolis-St. Paul.
[edit] References
- Scribbins, Jim (1970). The Hiawatha Story. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-89024-018-3.
[edit] See also
The Milwaukee Road Historical Association. http://mrha.com/
The Route of The Hiawatha mountain bike trail.
