On May 29, 1935, the Milwaukee Road inaugurated its Hiawatha high-speed passenger service between Chicago and the Twin Cities. The service featured all new equipment, led by the Class A streamlined Atlantic (initially loco nos. 1 and 2, with Loco nos. 3 and 4 added in 1936).
Here's a brief tribute with a photo of No. 3 from steamlocomotive.com plus a video of my Hiawatha Atlantic (2006, Lionel) pulling the 1936 ribbed cars on the Lionel Railroad Club of Milwaukee.
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A great thread; thanks for starting it. The Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha was one of the true high points in the history of passenger service on the North American continent. The train has always been a favorite in our family. Those Class A 4-4-2s were remarkable locomotives.
Posted below is a Hiawatha print I have hanging in my house
Bob
Hello Fred.
Is your HO model by Fox Valley?
Bob
Happy Birthday Hiawatha! That 4-4-2 consist is truly a beauty. I have a pair of the Weaver versions myself and there at the top of my rooster.
Milwrd
CNJ 3676 posted:Hello Fred.
Is your HO model by Fox Valley?
Bob
Hello Bob,
Yes, it is Fox Valley (I should have mentioned this); the 1 Gauge model is GR International (made by Samhongsa) and the 0 Gauge (of course) the Lionel remake.
Regards
Fred
Hi Fred.
Thanks for your speedy reply. Fox Valley also released an N scale version of the train. Since I do some work in N, I've been toying with the idea of getting the set to complement the O gauge versions which I have.
Best regards,
Bob
Jim, well done. I have that train and still think it to be one of the best ever done. I have always been a big Milwaukee fan.
It would be hard not to have admiration for the Milwaukee Road, for creating the Hiawatha, which became its public image. I never could understand why David Morgan was so fond of the Milwaukee Road until I rode the route of the Hiawatha in a Skytop parlor car. Throughout the 1930's my mom rode the original (and also the second) Hiawatha several times, to visit my grandparents in the TwinCities. I rode Milwaukee Road home-built chair cars with wood interiors on Union Pacific, after the Milwaukee Road became the Chicago connection for UPRR's trains.
The Milwaukee was a quirky, creaky railroad in many places, but they were as big-time as New York Central or Santa Fe on the route of the Hiawatha.
Hats off to the Hiawatha.
Nice timing on the thread - I just acquired the last few cars for my Lionel Hiawatha set. Haven't had a chance to put her on the tracks yet but she sure looks fantastic!
The Napa Valley Wine Train includes a Milwaukee Super Dome
Lets not forget American Flyer's offerings in 1936 and 1937.
I have the Dec 1950 issue of Trains magazine lying around... One of the guys behind the Hiawatha outlined the behind the scenes for it, among other things. I will have to remember to drag it out of the archives for y'all to see later.
Very short clip of my O, 3/16 scale Hiawatha built from Cleveland Models wooden kits. The locomotive is a modified Marx Jubilee type.
Steve
Jim R. posted:On May 29, 1935, the Milwaukee Road inaugurated its Hiawatha high-speed passenger service between Chicago and the Twin Cities. The service featured all new equipment, led by the Class A streamlined Atlantic (initially loco nos. 1 and 2, with Loco nos. 3 and 4 added in 1936).
Here's a brief tribute with a photo of No. 3 from steamlocomotive.com plus a video of my Hiawatha Atlantic (2006, Lionel) pulling the 1936 ribbed cars on the Lionel Railroad Club of Milwaukee.
Jim R.,
Your garden video of the Hiawatha is absolutely stunning. It looks great running in low light with all of that natural scenery.
I think I've heard of this train! Don
Here is the article from the December 1950 issue of Trains Magazine.
OKHIKER posted:Jim R. posted:On May 29, 1935, the Milwaukee Road inaugurated its Hiawatha high-speed passenger service between Chicago and the Twin Cities. The service featured all new equipment, led by the Class A streamlined Atlantic (initially loco nos. 1 and 2, with Loco nos. 3 and 4 added in 1936).
Here's a brief tribute with a photo of No. 3 from steamlocomotive.com plus a video of my Hiawatha Atlantic (2006, Lionel) pulling the 1936 ribbed cars on the Lionel Railroad Club of Milwaukee.
Jim R.,
Your garden video of the Hiawatha is absolutely stunning. It looks great running in low light with all of that natural scenery.
The video is of my O gauge Lionel Hiawatha Atlantic and ribbed streamlined cars, all released in 2006, running on the indoor Lionel Railroad Club of Milwaukee.
Nice post' Great piece of history'..
The Great Wall of Hiawatha.
Just to chime in: As a Milwaukee born and raised kid, the Hiawatha has always been my favorite train. Of course, having been born the same year that the train went into service, might have also helped a bit. Of course, there are some four or five different incarnations of the Hiawatha, but the Class "A" Atlantics were always my favorite. They were the first Atalntics constructed in over 20 years and they outweighed many Pacific types.
Love that train!
Paul Fischer
My favorite is the FM C- Liner, with the custom grill on the front /Hiawatha\ 1950s era'..
Quarter Gauger 48 posted:My favorite is the FM C- Liner, with the custom grill on the front /Hiawatha\ 1950s era'..
I believe you are referring to the FM "Erie-Built." The Milwaukee Road's C-Liners were freight engines.
I found an original art deco free standing ashtray from the Olypian Hiawatha at a retired train executives estate sale about a month ago. It is very heavy and has Olympaian Hiawatha cast in the base.
I will try to post a few pictures later this week.
Always like the Hiawatha and have the MTH locomotive and car set along with a added full dome.
As a kid, we would take the city bus to downtown Minneapolis to use the new library. Seeing the solarium cars backed into the Milwaukee's sandstone stub terminal permanently etched the Milwaukee Road onto my memory banks. Repairing a playmate's prewar 250E sealed the deal and made it my favorite railroad.
The Hiawatha has always been one of my favorite trains if not the favorite. I currently live less than a mile from the tracks of the Milwaukee Road's Valley Line that carried the North Woods Hiawatha to Star Lake Wisconsin. I often wish that I had been able to see the North Woods "Hi" stopped at the station, or rounding the curve to make the run north. I've scoured the internet and books to see if I could find a photo of the Hiawatha in town. So far no luck. But what I have found has been disturbing at times.
Have you ever wondered what happened to all those beautiful engines?
Sad end for an iconic beauty.
Greg
Northwoods Flyer
Greg: Very interesting photos. Obviously the #2 was being used as a steam boiler. I wonder where those pics were taken? My understanding is that the "A"'s lasted until the very early '50's. This just shows to go you that one just might have been saved with a little help from management and fans. Problem, at that time was that we were just getting into the Korean War, guys were leaving to join the military and there was a concern for scrap metal, just then.
Wow! Wouldn't that have been something? Eat your hearts out #611 fans!
Paul Fischer
I'd like some more info on No.2 being used as a stationary boiler. A real shame that one of those four historic locos wasn't preserved.
My father was one of the thousands of people who went trackside in Chicago to see it come through on its maiden run. He was 14 at the time. Happy Fathers Day, Dad!
Very cool photos in this thread, BTW!
I showed the photos of #2 to several of the members of the MRHA and the general feeling was that it was taken at the Milwaukee Road shops. I haven't come across any other information about it. Model Railroader did a fantasy piece for their 50th anniversary about finding one of the engines stored here in Wisconsin. In the story it was refurbished and sent around the country to run on a number of well known layouts of the day.
I also came across some photos of #3 and #4. Their fate wasn't any better apparently.
Greg
Northwoods Flyer
Southern Crescent 2 posted:I found an original art deco free standing ashtray from the Olypian Hiawatha at a retired train executives estate sale about a month ago. It is very heavy and has Olympaian Hiawatha cast in the base.
I will try to post a few pictures later this week.
I would really like to see that...
I plan on taking some shots of it tomorrow at my photo studio. So look for a post to this thread tomorrow.
I live in Sioux City, IA which had quite a history with the Milwaukee Road. During the 20-30-40s Sioux City yard was the second largest repair facility on the road. It had more than 500 employees back then. A 27 stall roundhouse handled the locos in and out. Between grain, cattle and hogs, a good passenger business the Milwaukee yard stayed busy until the end of steam. More history and photos can be seen at www.milwaukeerailroadshops.org.
Dick
CBQer posted:I live in Sioux City, IA which had quite a history with the Milwaukee Road. During the 20-30-40s Sioux City yard was the second largest repair facility on the road. It had more than 500 employees back then. A 27 stall roundhouse handled the locos in and out. Between grain, cattle and hogs, a good passenger business the Milwaukee yard stayed busy until the end of steam. More history and photos can be seen at www.milwaukeerailroadshops.org.
Dick
Thanks for posting that information. I had no idea there was a Milwaukee Road-related museum in Sioux City. Next time I get to that part of the country on a road trip, I'll have to take a look.
I found it especially interesting that the museum has a pair of passenger cars painted in the short-lived Brooks Stevens1947 Olympian Hiawatha paint scheme. The striping was too complex to survive, but I sure would love to see an 0 gauge passenger train painted in that scheme.
That is a very nice museum in a great part of the country'..Nice post. Thanks for sharing this information'.
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