Hiawatha – All Aboard Amtrak!

Milwaukee Road Hiawatha

Today, Amtrak’s Hiawatha route connects Chicago and Milwaukee with seven roundtrips daily in regular service. The Hiawatha originated with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (commonly known as the Milwaukee Road) in 1935. Named for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hiawatha, five routes carried the Hiawatha name, including within the Midwest and, with the Olympian Hiawatha, from Chicago to Seattle/Tacoma.

The Milwaukee Road introduced its Olympian Hiawatha in 1947, connecting Chicago and the Pacific Northwest with luxurious streamliner service. The train’s Skytop Lounge was 90 percent glass, offering “thrilling views of a mountain wonderland.” Its Tip Top Grill offered beverages of all kinds, snacks and light meals, a “friendly gathering place for all passengers.” The Olympian Hiawatha was launched during an era where famed industrial designers were responsible for some of the most beautiful streamlined trains ever made, including Henry Dreyfuss’s Mercury and 20th Century Limited for the New York Central and Raymond Loewy’s Pennsylvania Railroad S1. The Milwaukee Road’s Olympian Hiawatha was no exception. Its designer Brooks Stevens was also behind such iconic designs as the 1962 Studebaker Grand Turismo Hawk, the Jeep Wagoneer, and the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.