The Twin Cities 400, First and Most Famous of the North Western's 400s

The Chicago & North Western Railway didn’t get its name “Route of the 400s” for nothing! This famous slogan by the railroad described its fleet-footed regional passenger trains that were said to be able to reach their destinations in 400 minutes or less, thus the name 400 was born. The first train of the railroad’s famous passenger fleet was simply known as 400 but later changed to Twin Cities 400, a train that connected Chicago with Minneapolis. Other trains to come along in the fleet included the Dakota 400 (Chicago-Huron, South Dakota), Flambeau 400 (Chicago-Ashland, Wisconsin), and Peninsula 400 (Chicago-Ishpeming, Michigan).

Of all the many granger roads which sprawled out across the Midwest, the Chicago and North Western is likely the best remembered of all. When the railroad was merged unto the Union Pacific in 1995 it was one of the oldest railroads in the Midwest, its name unchanged since 1859. Because of its age the C&NW actually has the distinction of being the first railroad to operate a train out of Chicago, the Pioneer. The North Western's main line into that city is also a key link in the UP’s empire today. While its eye-catching green and yellow paint no longer adorns locomotives today the Chicago and North Western's legacy certainly continues to live on.

Throughout much of the C&NW’s life it did two things; serve the Heartland and northern Great Lakes regions as well as ferry traffic to and from Chicago, particularly the Union Pacific, a close ally for years. The railroad’s final growth period came during the late 1950s when it acquired the Litchfield & Madison giving the CN&W entrance to St. Louis. Other acquisitions included the much larger roads of the Minneapolis & St. Louis in 1960 and Chicago Great Western in 1968, totaling nearly 3,000 miles in additional trackage. While this swelled the railroad’s size to over 10,000 total rail miles it lost much of this in the 1970s when America’s breadbasket could no longer support so many railroads and thus the C&NW dumped many of these unprofitable lines.

Aside from its long-distance trains the Chicago and North Western also operated a number of commuter operations, particularly around the Chicago and Milwaukee regions. To accomplish this it used bi-level cars and was one of the first to implement the “push-pull” method of commuter operations to save both time and money. It would, eventually, however, rid itself of even this and turn the commuter operations over to local and state governments.

The C&NW’s fleet of 400s were never famous trains known across the country, like perhaps the Broadway Limited or Super Chief. However, they were legendary in the local region they served, from Chicago to Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Dakotas. What transpired into the first, and perhaps most famous train in the 400 fleet, the Twin Cities 400, started out as simply the 400 in 1935.

The train was said to be able to travel between Chicago and Minneapolis (roughly a distance of 400 miles) in around 400 minutes, hence its name, and while this may be a bit of a stretch the train was very fast and proved to be quite successful, particularly for commuters. The train itself featured modest, but very classy and tasteful interior designs (including lounges, parlor cars, and later even bi-level cars) and when it was streamlined in 1939 in a handsome livery of bright yellow and green (a paint scheme that would become the trademark of the North Western) was renamed the Twin Cities 400.

While successful, the Twin Cities 400 served a region stiff in competition from other railroads, such as the Milwaukee Road’s Twin Cities Hiawatha, a very fast and famous train into itself. In the end, the Chicago & North Western, never a large railroad anyway, decided to devote its resources elsewhere and threw in the towel to the Milwaukee discontinuing the Twin Cities 400 in 1963, only 28 years after it was inaugurated.

Today, while none of the original routes of the C&NW’s 400 fleet are used today you can still ride on much of the railroad’s commuter lines in the greater Chicago area, under the direction and management of Metra.

For more reading on streamliners like the Twin Cities 400 you might want to also consider the book Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon from renowned author Mike Schafer who covers in detail most of the well known and remembered “classic” passenger trains to operate in the country. If you have any interest in such you should very much enjoy Mr. Schafer’s book.

Also, for more reading about the C&NW you might want to consider Chicago & North Western Railway from Tom Murray. From another of MBI's "Railroad Color History" series the book gives an excellent general history of the 'North Western from its humble beginnings to purchase by Union Pacific in 1995, all the while stuffed full of colored photographs (typical of "Railroad Color History" publications).