Twin Cities Hiawatha
Encyclopedia
The Twin Cities Hiawatha was a named passenger train 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 original train takes its name from the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
. There are a number of Hiawatha-themed names within the city of Minneapolis, the terminus of the original train.
's (Burlington Route) Twin Cities Zephyr
s and Chicago and North Western Railway
's Twin Cities 400
. Unlike the diesel-powered Zephyrs, the Hiawatha trains were pulled by steam locomotive
s, though the trains were by no means slow or old-fashioned. The four brand-new class A
locomotives had streamlining
styled by Otto Kuhler
, were oil-fired to reduce servicing time en route, and were some of the fastest steam engines ever built, capable of powering their five-car train to in excess of 100 mph (44.7 m/s). The train's two sets of cars were also new and featured three coach cars, one parlor car (Ishkoodah or Minnewawa) and one parlor-lounge-observation car
(Nokomis
or Wenonah
).
Like the Burlington Pioneer Zephyr
and Union Pacific Railroad
's M-10000
City of Salina, spectators regularly lined the tracks to watch the streamlined Hiawathas and the Milwaukee Road train quickly became an icon of streamlining. Unlike the competition, the Hiawatha train was not articulated and could be changed in length, depending on service needed.
Due to its great economic success, in October 1936 the Milwaukee Road completely re-equipped the Twin Cities Hiawathas with a new ‘1937’ Hiawatha based roughly on the 1935 design It featured a baggage-‘Tip Top Tap’ car, coaches, a dining car, two parlor cars (Iagoo, Sahwa, Shada
, Wawa), and a new beavertail parlor-observation car (Omeme, Opeche).
In September 1938, the train was re-equipped again with the rib-sided ‘1939’ Hiawatha with its famous finned beaver-tail observation car was designed by noted industrial designer Otto Kuhler
. In addition, with train lengths increasing to nine cars, the class A locomotives could no longer keep to the required schedule, and so were replaced with the new class F7
4-6-4
“Hudsons”.
From January 21, 1939, the Twin Cites Hiawatha was replaced by two trains — the Morning Hiawatha (trains 5 and 6), and the Afternoon Hiawatha (trains 100 and 101).
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 North Woods Hiawatha, ran with older cars from earlier series also.
Two sets of passenger diesel locomotives were purchased in 1941: a back to back pair of Alco/GE DL-107 locomotives, the #14, and a back to back pair of EMD E-6
, the #15. The Twin Cities Hiawatha was partially equipped in May 1942 with coaches, two diners, and two ‘Tip Top Tap’ cars which ran with the 1939 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 loaded out to 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 1947–1948 the Milwaukee Road again re-equipped its major passenger routes with new lightweight equipment.
, a Chicago-Minneapolis-Duluth sleeper. Today, the Hiawatha name still lives on with Chicago-Milwaukee Amtrak Hiawatha Service. The Amtrak Empire Builder
traverses the original route of the Twin Cities Hiawatha also between Chicago-Minneapolis-St. Paul.
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...
(also known as the Milwaukee Road), and traveled from 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...
to the Twin Cities in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The original train takes its name from the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha
The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem, in trochaic tetrameter, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, featuring an Indian hero and loosely based on legends and ethnography of the Ojibwe and other Native American peoples contained in Algic Researches and additional writings of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft...
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
. There are a number of Hiawatha-themed names within the city of Minneapolis, the terminus of the original train.
History
The first Hiawatha trains ran in 1935. By 1947, there were five other routes carrying the Hiawatha name. The Hiawatha inaugurated service between Chicago and the Twin Cities on May 29, 1935, on a regular, daily 6 hour schedule covering 410 miles (659.8 km). The first Milwaukee Road Hiawathas were streamlined lightweight trains designed to meet competition from the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy RailroadChicago, 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 (Burlington Route) Twin Cities Zephyr
Twin Cities Zephyr
The Twin Cities Zephyr was a streamlined passenger train service of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad . It was the second Zephyr service introduced by CB&Q following the record-setting Denver–Chicago "dawn to dusk dash" of the Pioneer Zephyr trainset...
s and Chicago and North Western Railway
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
's Twin Cities 400
Twin Cities 400
The 400 was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Saint Paul, with a final stop in Minneapolis...
. Unlike the diesel-powered Zephyrs, the Hiawatha trains were pulled by steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s, though the trains were by no means slow or old-fashioned. The four brand-new class A
Milwaukee Road class A
The Milwaukee Road class A comprised four high-speed, streamlined 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type steam locomotives built by ALCO in 1935-37 to haul the Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha express passenger trains. They were among the last Atlantic types built in the United States, and certainly the largest and most...
locomotives had streamlining
Streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
styled by Otto Kuhler
Otto Kuhler
Otto Kuhler was an American designer, one of the best known industrial designers of the American railroads. According to Trains magazine he streamstyled more locomotives and railroad cars than Cret, Dreyfuss and Loewy combined...
, were oil-fired to reduce servicing time en route, and were some of the fastest steam engines ever built, capable of powering their five-car train to in excess of 100 mph (44.7 m/s). The train's two sets of cars were also new and featured three coach cars, one parlor car (Ishkoodah or Minnewawa) and one parlor-lounge-observation car
Observation car
An observation car/carriage/coach is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the last carriage, with windows on the rear of the car for passengers' viewing pleasure...
(Nokomis
Nokomis
Nokomis is the name of Nanabozho's grandmother in the Ojibwe traditional stories andwas the name of Hiawatha's grandmother in Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha, which is a re-telling of the Nanabozho stories...
or Wenonah
Wenonah
- Places :* Wenonah, Alabama, a community of ore mining camps near Birmingham, Alabama* Wenonah, Illinois, a village in the United States* Wenonah, New Jersey, a borough in the United States* Wenonah, Minneapolis, a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
).
Like the Burlington Pioneer Zephyr
Pioneer Zephyr
The Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered railroad train formed of railroad cars permanently articulated together with Jacobs bogies, built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , commonly known as the Burlington...
and 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 M-10000
M-10000
The Union Pacific Railroad's M-10000, delivered to the railroad on February 12, 1934, at a cost of $230,997, was the first internal combustion engine, lightweight streamlined express passenger train in the United States. The carbodies and interior fittings were built by Pullman-Standard...
City of Salina, spectators regularly lined the tracks to watch the streamlined Hiawathas and the Milwaukee Road train quickly became an icon of streamlining. Unlike the competition, the Hiawatha train was not articulated and could be changed in length, depending on service needed.
Due to its great economic success, in October 1936 the Milwaukee Road completely re-equipped the Twin Cities Hiawathas with a new ‘1937’ Hiawatha based roughly on the 1935 design It featured a baggage-‘Tip Top Tap’ car, coaches, a dining car, two parlor cars (Iagoo, Sahwa, Shada
Shada
Shada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
, Wawa), and a new beavertail parlor-observation car (Omeme, Opeche).
In September 1938, the train was re-equipped again with the rib-sided ‘1939’ Hiawatha with its famous finned beaver-tail observation car was designed by noted industrial designer Otto Kuhler
Otto Kuhler
Otto Kuhler was an American designer, one of the best known industrial designers of the American railroads. According to Trains magazine he streamstyled more locomotives and railroad cars than Cret, Dreyfuss and Loewy combined...
. In addition, with train lengths increasing to nine cars, the class A locomotives could no longer keep to the required schedule, and so were replaced with the new class F7
Milwaukee Road class F7
The Milwaukee Road's class F7 comprised six high-speed, streamlined 4-6-4 "Baltic" or "Hudson" type steam locomotives built by ALCO in 1937–38 to haul the Milwaukee's Hiawatha express passenger trains...
4-6-4
4-6-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification:...
“Hudsons”.
From January 21, 1939, the Twin Cites Hiawatha was replaced by two trains — the Morning Hiawatha (trains 5 and 6), and the Afternoon Hiawatha (trains 100 and 101).
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
Midwest Hiawatha
The Midwest Hiawatha was passenger train service of the Milwaukee Road. The service was inaugurated on December 11, 1940 and operate between Chicago's Union Station and Omaha, Nebraska, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, through northern Illinois and Iowa and South Dakota...
. Another train, The North Woods Hiawatha, ran with older cars from earlier series also.
Two sets of passenger diesel locomotives were purchased in 1941: a back to back pair of Alco/GE DL-107 locomotives, the #14, and a back to back pair of EMD E-6
EMD E6
The EMD E6 was a , A1A-A1A, passenger train locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors Electro-Motive Division, of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E6A, was manufactured from November, 1939 to September, 1942, and 91 were produced...
, the #15. The Twin Cities Hiawatha was partially equipped in May 1942 with coaches, two diners, and two ‘Tip Top Tap’ cars which ran with the 1939 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 loaded out to 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 1947–1948 the Milwaukee Road again re-equipped its major passenger routes with new lightweight equipment.
Route
The Twin Cities Hiawatha was the main line route From Chicago, Milwaukee to St. Paul and Minneapolis. On the original route, only five intermediate stops were made between Milwaukee and St. Paul. Later other stops were added, as well as Glenview, Illinois between Chicago and Milwaukee. When the Hiawatha began operating in 1935, the line was already equipped for cab signaling, which would light a system of white, green, or red lights inside the locomotive. A whistle would also activate if the red signal came on.Amtrak
Amtrak brought back the name Twin Cities Hiawatha as a Chicago-Minneapolis service on January 16, 1972. On June 12 that year Amtrak combined this service with the North Coast Hiawatha; three days a week the train continued to Seattle, otherwise it terminated at Minneapolis. In 1977 Amtrak again established a Twin Cities Hiawatha as a daily Chicago-Minneapolis train, but ended this service in 1978 with the introduction of the North StarNorth Star (Amtrak)
The North Star was a passenger train operated by Amtrak along the "Hiawatha Corridor" during the late 1970s and early- to mid-1980s. It originally operated as a Chicago, Illinois–Duluth, Minnesota train via Saint Paul, Minnesota, but was soon converted to a Saint Paul–Duluth local...
, a Chicago-Minneapolis-Duluth sleeper. Today, the Hiawatha name still lives on with Chicago-Milwaukee Amtrak Hiawatha Service. The Amtrak Empire Builder
Empire Builder
The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...
traverses the original route of the Twin Cities Hiawatha also between Chicago-Minneapolis-St. Paul.
See also
- Hiawatha (passenger train)Hiawatha (passenger train)The Hiawathas were named passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
- Hiawatha (Amtrak)Hiawatha (Amtrak)Hiawatha Service, or Hiawatha, is the name of an train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan, although the name was historically applied to several different routes that extended across the Midwest and out to the Pacific Ocean...
- Twin Cities 400Twin Cities 400The 400 was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Saint Paul, with a final stop in Minneapolis...
- Empire BuilderEmpire BuilderThe Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...