The 400 Story Chicago & North Western’s Premier Passenger Trains Jim Scribbins Table of Contents		$29.95 paper ISBN: 978-0-8166-5449-9 ISBN-10: 0-8166-5449-2
“400 miles in 400 minutes . . . the fastest train on the American continent.” -advertisement, December 1934 Three midwestern railroads introduced luxury passenger service in 1935, competing for Chicago–Twin Cities business and leisure travelers. Chicago and North Western’s modern, sleek, and fast rail line began with a conventional steam-powered train dubbed the “400” and named after its ambitious schedule: “400 miles in 400 minutes.” In 1939, it evolved into an even faster diesel-powered streamlined train, eventually expanding into a fleet of streamliners that served Wisconsin, Minnesota, and upper Michigan. The 400 Story captures the excitement of this era, tracing the rise and fall of the premier passenger system that made “Twin Cities 400” a household term in the upper Midwest. "The trains are extinct, but many details of the landscape they traversed still exist. In this book’s maps, descriptions, and photographs of the 400s at various points along their routes, it is easy to imagine the yellow and green streamliners still rolling across the Wisconsin countryside or easing into a crowded station." —Wisconsin Magazine of History Jim Scribbins had a lifetime career at Milwaukee Road and is the author of The Hiawatha Story (Minnesota, 2006) and four other books about upper midwestern railroads. He lives in West Bend, Wisconsin. 232 pages | 341 b&w photos, 18 color photos| 11 x 8 1/2 | 2008 Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage Book Series TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction                                                                                                                        400 miles in 400 minutes                                                                                                            For a train of social rank, a splendidly appropriate title Yellow and green                                                                                                                        Hot competition for Hiawathas and Zephyrs Minnesota 400 and kin                                                                                                            Multiple monickers: Minnesota, Dakota and Rochester 400’s Flambeau 400                                                                                                                        The vacationer’s choice to Wisconsin’s resort country Peninsula 400                                                                                                                        From smelt specials to Upper Michigan’s last passenger train Kate Shelley 400                                                                                                                        For Iowa, a train named for a heroine The 400 fleet                                                                                                                                    The North Western knew how to run a corrider The bilevel era                                                                                                                        Gallery cars and head-end power revolutionize carbuilding Protesters and empty seats                                                                                                Minnesota loses its 400’s Locomotives                                                                                                                        Rolling stock                                                                                                                        A 400 color sampler                                                                                                            Index