Twin Cities Hiawatha

Hiawatha
Twin Cities Hiawatha
Morning Hiawatha
Afternoon Hiawatha
The Morning Hiawatha in 1964
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleMidwestern United States
First serviceMay 29, 1935
Last serviceApril 30, 1971
SuccessorBorealis
Former operator(s)Milwaukee Road
Route
TerminiChicago, Illinois
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Distance travelled421 mi (678 km)
Service frequencyDaily (1935-1939)
Train number(s)5–6 (Hiawatha, Morning Hiawatha)
100–101 (Afternoon Hiawatha)
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Operating speedmax: 112.5 to 125 mph (181.1 to 201.2 km/h)
Route map
Distance
Station
0 mi
Chicago
18 mi
29 km
Glenview
86 mi
138 km
Milwaukee
118 mi
190 km
Oconomowoc, WI
131 mi
211 km
Watertown, WI
150 mi
241 km
Columbus, WI
178 mi
286 km
Portage, WI
195 mi
314 km
Wisconsin Dells
214 mi
344 km
Mauston, WI
221 mi
356 km
New Lisbon, WI
240 mi
386 km
Tomah, WI
256 mi
412 km
Sparta, WI
281 mi
452 km
La Crosse, WI
308 mi
496 km
Winona, MN
341 mi
549 km
Wabasha, MN
354 mi
570 km
Lake City, MN
371 mi
597 km
Red Wing, MN
391 mi
629 km
Hastings, MN
410 mi
660 km
Saint Paul
421 mi
678 km
Minneapolis

Stations in italics added later

The Twin Cities Hiawatha, often just 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. 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. The first Hiawatha ran in 1935; in 1939 the Milwaukee Road introduced a second daily trip between Chicago and Minneapolis. The two trains were known as the Morning Hiawatha and Afternoon Hiawatha, or sometimes the AM Twin Cities Hiawatha and PM Twin Cities Hiawatha. The Milwaukee Road discontinued the Afternoon Hiawatha in 1970 while the Morning Hiawatha continued running until the formation of Amtrak in 1971.