A postcard featuring the Milwaukee Road's Midwest Hiawatha, ca. 1940.
It is superbly comfortable, silent and smooth riding, free from sway and vibration. Every car is air - conditioned. No Extra Fare.
(Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, Public domain, via W. Lenheim Collection)
MIDWEST HIAWATHA
The Midwest Hiawatha was a passenger train on the Milwaukee Road, one of many Milwaukee Road trains with a Hiawatha name. The service began December 11, 1940 between Chicago's Union Station and Omaha, Nebraska, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, through northern Illinois and Iowa and South Dakota.
A Milwaukee Road Hiawatha Route Map. (Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
A Midwest Hiawatha Ink Blotter. (Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, Public domain, via W. Lenheim Collection)
Equipment
Initially the train used Atlantic 4-4-2 steam engines and cars freed by the 1938 re-equipping of the Twin Cities Hiawathas, including the distinctive Beaver Tail parlor-observation cars. In 1940 the train covered 488 miles (785 km) between Chicago and Omaha in 480 minutes. Unlike the competition between Chicago and the Missouri River, the Midwest Hiawatha was scheduled during daylight, which helped boost patronage. 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 split at Manilla, Iowa.
Interior photo detailing the new chairs of the coach car from a Milwaukee Road flyer on the Midwest Hiawatha detailing the changes made to the train's cars since the train's 1940 premiere. Ca. 1947-50. (Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
An alternate interior photo of the coach car from a Milwaukee Road flyer on the Midwest Hiawatha, ca. 1947-50. (Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Interior photo of the beaver tail observation car from a Milwaukee Road flyer on the Midwest Hiawatha detailing the changes made to the train's cars, ca. 1947-50. (Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
The Challenger
The final trips for the Midwest Hiawatha were on October 29, 1955. The next day the Milwaukee Road assumed operation of Union Pacific Railroad's City of San Francisco, City of Los Angeles, City of Denver, City of Portland and Challenger trains. The Midwest Hiawatha became two Sioux Falls–Chicago coaches which combined with the Challenger. The Milwaukee Road dropped the name altogether in April 1956, when the eastward was rescheduled to leave Omaha at 2:45 AM CST.
Route of the Midwest Hiawatha.
(Mackensen, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Midwest Hiawatha Overview
First service: December 11, 1940
Last service: April 1956
Successor: Challenger
Former operator: Milwaukee Road
Route termini: Chicago, IL / Omaha, Nebraska and Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Average journey time: 8 hours 45 minutes (Omaha)
Average journey time: 11 hours 55 minutes (Sioux Falls)
Train numbers: 102 (eastbound), 103 (westbound)
A Milwaukee Road class F7 locomotive (type 4-6-4) hauling the "Midwest Hiawatha" past Tower B17, Bensenville, Illinois in May of 1943. (Jack Delano, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs division, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the first Challenger-Midwest Hiawatha train to leave Chicago's Union Station on October 30, 1955. This marked the end of the Union Pacific's association with the Chicago and North Western Railway for joint service between Chicago and Omaha and the beginning of one between the UP and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul. (Bob Fremming, Dallas, WI/photo: Union Pacific Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)