Drawn by the first newly built scientifically streamlined steam locomotives,
designed for speed faster than steam locomotive ever attained heretofore,
two Milwaukee Road speed-lined trains were placed in daily service
between Chicago and St. Paul-Minneapolis on May 29, 1935. The 410
miles between Chicago and St. Paul are covered in 390 minutes.
Traversing
territory rich in Indian lore, the train is named the Hiawatha for
the great Mohawk Chief whose legendary endowments, as immortalized
by Longfellow, includes swiftness of foot:
"He
could shoot an arrow from him,
And run forward with such fleetness
That the arrow fell behind him!"
The oil-burning
steam locomotives were especially designed for this particular service.
They have a steam pressure of 300 lbs.: driving wheels are 7 feet
in diameter.
Load weight
of the engine is 280,000 lbs. Loaded weight of tender is 247,500
lbs. Length of engine and tender 85 ft. Boiler pressure 300 lbs.
Water capacity of tender 13,000 gals. Fuel oil capacity of tender
4,000 gals. Maximum tractive power 30,700 lbs. The whistle is above
the headlight. The bell is directly inside the grating at the extreme
front end. The "smoke stack" is just back of the headlight.
A smoke
elevator lifts the smoke up so that it is carried off above the
cars. The housing on the extreme front of the engine may be opened
exposing a standard coupler, in the event it is desirable to couple
an engine or car to forward end.
All the coaches,
the parlor cars and the cafe cars are speed-lined, full size, of
welded steel construction, about one third lighter in weight than
the cars generally in use. The cafe cars have special buffet features
and the luxuriosly appointed coaches have conveniences new to coach
patrons. To reduce air resistance the contour of all cars conforms
to the locomotive, presenting a smooth unbroken line from head end
to the rear of the "beaver tail" cars at the end. All
of the cars are air conditioned.
Introduction
of the first speed-lined steam train continued the Milwaukee Road's
outstanding record of contributions to modern railroading. It was
the first line between Chicago and the Twin Cities and is still
the only double tracked route; was the first to use steam heat and
electric lights on Chicago-Twin Cities trains and the first to operate
all-steel trains between Chicago and the Twin Cities. It was the
first line to adopt roller bearings for through passenger trains,
and has pioneered in the operation of trains across mountain ranges
by electric power, and it is the only railroad operating over its
own rails all the way from Chicago to the North Pacific Coast.
Routed via
Milwaukee and LaCrosse the new speed trains operate via the line
over which the United States government has routed its mail trains
between Chicago and the Twin Cities for more than a half century.
Excerpt from
"The Milwaukee Road 1847-1935"
|
