The Midwest Hiawatha was passenger train service of the Milwaukee Road

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...

. The service was inaugurated on December 11, 1940 and operate between Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

's Union Station

Union Station (Chicago)

Union Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...

 and Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...

, through northern Illinois and Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 and South Dakota. For most of its history the train was financially successful despite not directly serving most of the major population centers in Iowa.

Initially, the train utilized Atlantic [4-4-2] steam engines and rolling stock freed from the 1938 re-equipping of the Twin Cities Hiawathas. Bus and "gas-electric" services were utilized to connect passengers to major cities near the route such as Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. Unlike the Milwaukee's well-established competition between Chicago and the Missouri River, the Midwest Hiawatha was scheduled during daylight hours, which helped boost patronage for the train. For most of its history it carried coaches for both Omaha and Sioux Falls with tap-diners and parlor services generally run between Chicago and Sioux Falls. The two sections of the train were split at Manilla, Iowa.

The final trip for the Midwest Hiawatha from all terminals occurred on October 29, 1955. On the next day, October 30, 1955, the Milwaukee Road

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...

 assumed operation of Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

's City of San Francisco

City of San Francisco

The City of San Francisco was a streamlined passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad...

, City of Los Angeles

City of Los Angeles

The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until...

, City of Denver

City of Denver

The City of Denver was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western and Union Pacific railroads. The train operated on both railroads' rights of way between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado...

, City of Portland

City of Portland

The City of Portland was a named passenger train operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon. It started in June 1935, using the refurbished M-10001 streamliner trainset; with only one set of equipment the train left...

and Challenger

Challenger (passenger train)

The Challenger was a named passenger train fleet jointly operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Chicago and North Western Railway . The economy service ran between Chicago, Illinois and several major cities located along the West Coast of the United States...

trains. The Midwest Hiawatha was combined with the Challenger and was designated in the Milwaukee Road timetable as Challenger-Midwest Hiawatha. A year later in 1956 the Midwest Hiawatha name disappeared altogether when the Challenger was combined with the City of Los Angeles and moved to an evening schedule.

The Union Pacific/Milwaukee transcontinental services continued to operate over the same route as the former Midwest Hiawatha until 1971 when Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 selected the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...

's route across Iowa for its San Francisco Zephyr

San Francisco Zephyr

The San Francisco Zephyr was the name adopted in June 1972 for the Amtrak passenger train between Chicago, Illinois and the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Previously Amtrak had called it the City of San Francisco on the tri-weekly run west of Denver and Denver Zephyr on the daily run between...

and later California Zephyr

California Zephyr

The California Zephyr is a long passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the midwestern and western United States.It runs from Chicago, Illinois, in the east to Emeryville, California, in the west, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California...

transcontinental services.