Images of passenger service on the North Western Line
Chicago & North Western passenger trains: All through December 2023, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the C&NW.
E-4 Hudson 4001 with Chicago–Oakland Forty-Niner departing Chicago, circa 1938.
C&NW
Chicago–Minneapolis 400 at Main Street, Evanston, Ill., April 1962.
Ed DeRouin
Minneapolis–Omaha North American departing Minneapolis, August 1950.
Bob Borcherding
R-1 Ten-Wheeler 1402 with Fond du Lac–Janesville (Wis.) train 28 crossing Milwaukee Road at Watertown, Wis., 1948.
Bob Lewis
Pacific 590 with outbound Northwest Line suburban train crossing Milwaukee Road at Mayfair Tower, Chicago, 1952.
Wallace W. Abbey
In the late 1940s, as the Portland–Chicago City of Portland passes on the main line, four other streamliners occupy the four closest tracks in 40th Street Yard (from left): City of Denver, Twin Cities 400, City of Los Angeles, and City of San Francisco.
C&NW
E8 5024A with Milwaukee–Chicago train 160, Streamliner 400, at Racine, Wis., mid-1950s.
Russ Porter
Rapid City (S.Dak.)–Chicago Dakota 400 at Tunnel City, Wis., Sept. 19, 1957.
Jim Scribbins
Six afternoon suburban trains — one outbound (far right) and five waiting to back into North Western Terminal — at Clinton Street Tower, June 1953.
Wallace W. Abbey
E8 5025 and an E3 or E6 with Twin Cities 400 at Minneapolis about to depart for Chicago, July 1953.
James G. LaVake
Streamliner observation cars
From left: City of Los Angeles, City of Denver, and Twin Cities 400 at 40th Street coach yard, Chicago, 1941.
C&NW
New and old suburban equipment
F7 4085A with new bi-level cars passes old heavyweight equipment just outside North Western Terminal, Chicago, in 1960.
J. Parker Lamb
Pacific 1634 with Madison–Chicago train 508.
Frank Rogers
New E3 diesels on Chicago–Minneapolis 400 at Chicago, 1939.
John Proebsting coll.
Atlantic 1316 with inbound suburban train at Glen Ellyn, Ill., February 1944.
Robert Nicholls
Minneapolis–Chicago overnight North Western Limited arriving Chicago, July 1952.
S. K. Bolton Jr.
Chicago push-pull suburban train
C&NW was the first road to embrace push-pull technology for commuter trains, beginning in 1959.
C&NW
E6 5005B and E3 5002B with Minneapolis–Chicago 400 approaching station in Milwaukee, October 1954.
Jim Scribbins
Pacific 578 with inbound suburban train at Mayfair Tower, Chicago, July 1955.
Bob Bruneau
E3 diesels with Chicago–Minneapolis 400 outside North Western Terminal, Chicago, 1939.
C&NW
Please enjoy this photo gallery of Chicago & North Western passenger trains, originally published online in May 2015.
“Streamliner 400
E8 5024A with Milwaukee–Chicago train 160, Streamliner 400, at Racine, Wis., mid-1950s.”
Photo shows a set of 3 RDC’s!