Minnesotan

The Minnesotan was an overnight passenger train run by the Chicago Great Western Railway, using the CGW's trackage between Grand Central Station in Chicago, Illinois, and Saint Paul Union Depot in Saint Paul, Minnesota, via Hayfield, Minnesota. A section of the train split in McIntire, Iowa, to serve Rochester, Minnesota.[1]

Minnesotan

Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota
Predecessor	Great Western Limited
First service	January 16, 1925 (as Legionnaire) 1930 (as Minnesotan)[1]
Last service	May 10, 1949 (as Minnesotan) August 11, 1956 (as numbered train)
Former operator(s)	Chicago Great Western Railway
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
End	Minneapolis or Rochester, Minnesota
Distance travelled	359 mi (578 km) (Chicago–Rochester) 435 mi (700 km) (Chicago–Minneapolis)
Average journey time	12h25m
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	1 (Chicago–Minneapolis), 2 (Minneapolis–Chicago)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map 435 mi Minneapolis 425 Saint Paul 420 South St. Paul 392 Randolph 372 Kenyon 359 Rochester 353 Dodge Center 344 Hayfield, Minnesota Minnesota/Iowa border 310 McIntire, Iowa 305 Riceville 294 Elma 291 Alta Vista 280 New Hampton 271 Fredericksburg 261 Sumner 254 Westgate 246 Oelwein 230 Lamont 215 Oneida 203 Dyersville 172 Dubuque, Iowa Mississippi River, Iowa/Illinois border 143 Elizabeth, Illinois 131 Stockton 120 Pearl City 107 South Freeport 88 Byron 78 Holcomb 57 Sycamore 36 St. Charles 10 Forest Park 0 mi Chicago

Begun as the Legionnaire in 1925, the train was renamed the Minnesotan in 1930, and was powered by a 4-6-2 Pacific-type locomotive. The Minnesotan was one of the finest passenger trains the Great Western operated but could not compete against the more famous passenger trains of the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago and North Western.

The Great Western dropped the name on May 10, 1949, but Chicago to St. Paul passenger service continued to linger on for seven more years. By the early 1950s, a doodlebug or (later) a single EMD F-unit pulled a railway post office car, a baggage car, and a coach. This service was spartan compared to the Minnesotan of less than a decade earlier, and ceased entirely on August 11, 1956.

References

1. David J. Fiore Sr. (2006). The Chicago Great Western Railway. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4048-1.