Milwaukee Road Hiawatha passenger train service is being remembered today. The Milwaukee Road is the most common name used to refer to the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad. The company began its life as the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad. The line was established to connect the Lake Michigan port city of Milwaukee to towns along the upper Mississippi River. Becoming the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad prior to construction, the rail line first reached the Mississippi River in 1857.
During the 1890’s the company decided to extend the line to the Pacific Northwest. This was done to compete with the other railroads operating in the upper Midwest. The Pacific Northwest Extension was approved in 1905, at an estimated cost of $60 million. Beginning construction in 1906, the track was completed during 1909. However, many people would eventually blame this expansion for the demise of the Milwaukee Road. The line bypassed many cities in the region, limiting the lines revenue potential.
Milwaukee Road Hiawatha service
The name “Hiawatha” was used by the Milwaukee Road for its fleet of passenger trains. The service was operated by some of the best train equipment ever built. The cars were built by the railroad at its own shops in the Menomonee Valley area of Milwaukee. The name Hiawatha comes from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “The song of Hiawatha”. These Hiawatha trains were famous for some of their fabulous observation cars designed by industrialist Brooks Stevens. Longer “Skytop Lounge” observation cars were later ordered from The Pullman Car Company for the “Olympian Hiawatha” train in 1951. The Olympian Hiawatha train would later be purchased by the Canadian National Railway.
Throughout the 1960’s, Railroads were no longer able to effectively compete for passenger service. Lower cost air travel, and the convenience and popularity of the automobile, had taken its toll on the industry. Amtrak was founded in 1971 by the government to take control of the majority of passenger rail service. Amtrak would go on to operated a route from Chicago to Milwaukee to Minneapolis called “The Hiawatha”. The route would be renamed as “The Twin Cities Hiawatha”. Later, extending the route on to Seattle, it would be renamed again as “The North Coast Hiawatha”. The service was eventually ended for good in 1979.
Amtrak also used the term “Hiawatha Service” for the passenger trains operating along the corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago. This service continues to operate today running along the original Milwaukee Road tracks between the two cities.
