C&NW Flambeau 400

C&NW Flambeau 400 Northbound from Eland Wisconsin summer 1963

[@concorde2003]

Update: I hereby declare this the best video on all of youtube.

[@andthepoetliftshispen5752]

Fantastic video! I would see these express trains thunder thru our commuter station once a day as a child, but was always told they were "probably club cars". If only the 400s were still around!

[@chriskrazmuski745]

Wonderful time travel!

[@arbe1948]

Fun to see passengers still actually using the trains! Bob

[@Petemonster62]

Fantastic footage! This train would work well for model railroaders with a small layout!

[@JoeRailfan]

1963 was the year my family began summer vacationing up in the North Woods. I once caught an all-too-brief glimpse of the Flambeau 400 making its station stop in Woodruff as we were returning from Rhinelander on State Highway 47 which paralleled the C&NW line. (Dad had driven us kids over there to see the Hodag.) Never got to ride her, though. Surprising how many people were still using the train back in '63, at least during the summer season. I'm guessing there is no public transportation at all in this neck of the woods today, not even a bus.

[@tylerschilling8742]

Not outside of the cities theres nothing.

[@edgein3299]

Growing up near Lac du Flambeau, I remember seeing this train all the time. Looks like all the tracks are gone as well as the station which was at Hwy H and Pokegema Trail.

[@larrybrennan1463]

The Rhinelander station was a lawyer's office last time I saw it. The town of Woodruff was offered the station but decided they wanted more parking so the building was demolished. Naturally, they regretted several years later when they realized what a useful thing it could have been.

[@carvcom1]

Fantastic rare film footage of the C&NW back in the "400" days. Great job.

[@TheLpbrennan]

Oh, the memories. I worked summers 1966-1979 at the Northern Wisconsin National Canoe Base, BSA, at Boulder Junction, 20 miles north of Woodruff. Until summer 1970, we would meet the northbound train in Woodruff on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for Scouts who came in early for our training program. In 1966, I took the Flambeau 400 to Chicago and back to Woodruff. By then the train had only one or two coaches and a baggage car. In 1967, I rode from Chicago up in June and down in August- connecting on back to Florida. The northbound train was No.153, the southbound No. 216, an odd pairing that reflected earlier and long discontinued trains.

[@scoobycarr5558]

I was with the Boy Scouts when I was a kid. In fact as a Boy Scout I was in Summer Camp and us kids traveled one day to the Ogden Dunes in Indiana.

[@andrewfosbinder2826]

I lived in woodruff for ten months use to walk the trail that was a railroad.

[@deborahruthsinceskye9129]

If this is the route to Eagle River, then I rode it for 4 times in the '50s, round trips to summer camp (Camp Nicolet). Very nostalgic. Thanks for posting this five years ago!

[@092149]

What a great memory...I was an avid "400" follower

[@kurtarmbruster]

Superb scenes, very well set-up. Big crowds at the stations--hope they all found seats! Thanks for this fine look back.

[@auhs70]

What a gem! Rode this train a few times back in the mid 60's when I was a kid. Monico to Antigo to visit my sister.

[@thecnwmondovilinepaulscota7304]

What a fantastic video of the 400. Would love to have someone add sound to it...

[@MichaelRHull-wy7wg]

I’m from Wittenberg 4 miles south of Eland, and knew a lot of the guys that ran the route’s both directions. Loved seeing this! Bowler Wisconsin would be another I’d like to see

[@mitchwinder1204]

Wow, what a jewel of a video. Thanks for posting it.

[@danielkennedy1524]

The 400 and Bi-level did not stop in my little town, but whew the sure went through in a hurry!!!!(Lake forest IL) Great video thanks!

[@danielkennedy1524]

Very simliar make up out of Chicago to Greenbay, beautiful pics!!! thanks! We called her the Bi-level Flaneau

[@adeeponionbreath]

Thanks for posting!

[@foosqust]

0:00-0:40 Eland 0:40-1:00 unknown siding 1:00-1:27 crossing US 45 just south of Summit Lake, WI 1:27-1:44 north side of Pelican Lake, WI 1:44- 2:17 McNaughton, WI 2:17-3:16 Woodruff, WI 3:16- 3:53 Lac du Flambeau, WI 3:53-5:01 Monico, WI (southbound)

[@brenterdmann9161]

I have come to think that the Unknown Siding would be Siding GX 1 Mile north of Aniwa and this was taken at what once the WI 52 Overpass just West of the Melody Mill Restaurant.

[@concorde2003]

Thanks for posting this fantastic footage.

[@caseyjonesii6050]

Great video!!! I wish there was more. I'm hoping to find some video from the Ironwwod Michigan area. It was a very busy place. There is a video of a guy building a model of the area based around 1955. His video of his layout is on youtube. I think it's under Gogebic Range Railroad

[@TheLpbrennan]

I've seen it. It's very good. Even has Cohodas-Paoli, a produce dealer we bought from at the Scout camp near Boulder Junction.

[@joestrainworldvideos3977]

Great video. Fantastic trains. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@scoobycarr5558]

The CNW's E8A 5025B at 1:35 would eventually go to their suburban commuter trains from Chicago after the advent of Amtrak in the 1970s.

[@BillBaarCamptonHills]

Thanks for sharing...great stuff!

[@rodney4917]

train and engine crews changed at Antigo, WI. Old C&NW RR operating crews were based out of Antigo, WI and worked between Antigo and Ashland, WI.

[@timtenn7671]

My Dad worked these jobs as a fireman between Green Bay and Antigo. I rode with him a few times.

[@mooseriddle]

This video reminds me of taking the C&NW as a kid to go see my grandparents in Milwaukee. Thanks for posting!

[@slorznovitch]

Excellent!

[@casperfriendly47]

wonderful! great time travel...

[@edjohnson8799]

i remember riding the cnw every summer to go to manitowac from chicago to see my grandparents up in sturgeon Bay, i miss it big time but now i ride trains all over the USA , you can take the train away from the boy but you can never take the train out of the boy

[@gtfoshea]

love it!! would love to have been the engr, just not only run it but to-, to feel how it was to brake it with that consist. a wonderful film from the past

[@supertouring]

Jesus thats clear, very nice.

[@gunvald833]

Anyone notice that the first car behind the locomotive was a diner. Ran that in the summer months but this was just about the end of the summer service and the diner to Ashland.

[@tseringgyaltsen1453]

gunvald

[@Petemonster62]

That is unusual - diners seemed to be placed mid-train in a consist. But since this is a shorter train, it probably wouldn't make a difference.

[@dbaseII]

Hi my hubby says, yes, it was all taken in one day!

[@jamesmoninger1982]

I used to take these trains from Lac du Flambeau to Chicago - mid 60s. Were there always so few cars? I can't really remember. If I recall, one of the cars was a diner (?)

[@duxberry1958]

Good video Gerry Widemark

[@krugcpa]

I'd be grateful if someone would identify the stations. Great footage!

[@brushcreek42]

I commuted on the C&NW from Mt. Prospect to the Loop from 1960-61 and1965-1970. I liked the St. Louis Car Co. coaches best. They had larger windows than the Pullmans and you could hear the rail joint sounds.

[@seanycarr3226]

Let's see. Judging from the styles of the cars, the ones from the St. Louis Car Co. were among the first types on the C&NW when it fully dieselized and had 12 windows on each end of the cars. The later cars from Pullman on the C&NW (also its cab cars as well) had eight windows on each side of the cars.

[@johncotter1600]

A lot of the old Pullman cars are still in service.

[@brushcreek42]

@@seanycarr3226 OK, never noticed that. These all look to be Pullmans then.

[@freddykagin]

The Great Chicago northwestern 😊

[@foosqust]

This is unbelievable footage! I hope this is a sampling of things to come? The only station stop that I didn't recognize was the last one. If I were going to guess I'd say it was a southbound train at Monico but that doesn't really fit as the rest of the footage showed the train as northbound. Can you help me out? Also, any chance you have CNW footage at Marshfield, WI? Would love to see that!

[@joestrainworldvideos3977]

I subscribed.Joe from Germany. 😃😃😀😀

[@gplito]

notice the highway overpasses and the slight amount of traffic....the streets also didn't have a lot of traffic either. I remember it was a lot quieter too....especially at night. What a difference 180 million people make,eh?

[@saralemirande3504]

Oh how true

[@lcar4000]

Nice video! I didn't recall the single-level coach at the end of this train, at least not on the day I rode it. Yes, the bi-levels on the intercity trains were much nicer than the commuter coaches. I wondered if these long distance bi-levels were put into commuter service once the Flambeau and Peninsula 400's were discontinued.

[@seanycarr3226]

I would imagine they did - and it's quite possible that some of these are still at work under Metra today on Union Pacific's former C&NW.

[@concorde2003]

@@seanycarr3226 Amtrak ran the old CNW 400 long distance bi-levels in the 80's. I used to ride them between Chicago and Champaign. I liked to imagine I was riding to Land O' Lakes or Watersmeet. It's a shame there is no rail service to the north woods. Also, it's a shame there are no north woods...they've been heavily logged and are only a ghost of what they used to be.

[@MrSkytop35]

They look exactly like Chicago commuter coaches but they were actually intercity coaches built for the Flambeau 400. They were equipped with better seating, baggage racks and the doors didn't fully open like the Chicago cars. The thought was they could be converted easily to commuter service.

[@TheLpbrennan]

I believe some of the long-distance bi-levels were leased to Amtrak. I recall seeing them in platinum mist.

[@lcar4000]

They also ran on the Peninsula 400

[@mikekutz5776]

Cool.

[@granskare]

I used the CNW all the way to Ishpeming...The station has been removed and nothing has replaced it .

[@ffemtx47]

@granskare The old station is still there. The business occupying it is Bell Forest Products on Hematite Street which runs parallel with the old railroad grade. That station was featured in the film ANATOMY OF A MURDER with Jimmy Stewart. In the film, if you look closely during one of the scenes of the "Peninsula 400" pulling into the station you will see Chicago's award winning journalist Irv Kupcinet disembark the train!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@ffemtx47 Was he the one stepping from the train who was mistaken for the character "Dr. Smith" in the movie?

[@ffemtx47]

@@WAL_DC-6B That would be him!

[@marvwatkins7029]

Notice that he entirely left out the sign of the long-gone Woodruff station.

[@arejay54]

Great video! Is it a 16mm camera? I did 8mm movies in the 1970s, but I wish I'd filmed more trains.

[@gtptube]

Great video. Was it all taken on one day?

[@bonzoleum]

Terrific-thank you! Would this have been the same trackage that went through Eagle River?

[@bonzoleum]

Did it split/break off in Eland? What is the final staion/town in the film? Again thank you very much!

[@TheLpbrennan]

The Eagle River line went north at Monico. It crossed the Soo at Gagen. North of Eagle River at Conover, a branch went east to Phelps to serve a large mill there.

[@brushcreek42]

I'm amazed they were using double deck Chicago commuter coaches on the 400.

[@larrybrennan1463]

brushcreek42 Those were long-distance bi-level coaches. Not quite the same as the commuter cars inside.

[@davidurban6813]

@@larrybrennan1463 what was the difference? Different seating options? Just asking. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone.

[@brushcreek42]

@@larrybrennan1463 What DID they look like inside?

[@larrybrennan1463]

@@brushcreek42 Hard to recall, but the seats were farther apart, and there was a restroom.

[@brushcreek42]

@@larrybrennan1463 I recall there was a restroom in each commuter coach. The first compartment in each train was a smoking compartment. Occasionally I would stand at the front window on the inbound train to get the engineer's view. The smoke was pretty thick. I met a couple who would sit at the back of the compartment and smoke pot! It all blended in I guess. Risky behavior for those days.

[@traingp7]

The good old days, JFK was president and all was right in the world.

[@TomZ23]

It's really too bad Metra doesn't embrace the heritage and paint a trainset up in Northwestern Railroad colors and run it on the NW Line.

[@icrailfanner]

Exactly but metra just doesn't care about heritage before you know it the last of the Pullmans will be gone and the last 2 f40c's will be gone

[@icrailfanner]

@@planeflight1202 wow it took 4 years for someone to reply and the only noticeable thing that has happened was more pullmans, as for the 40c's it ain't looking too promising.

[@TrainTrackTrav]

I thought Metra had two heritage units. The Rock Island and the Milwaukee Road units.

[@icrailfanner]

@@TrainTrackTrav they do metra has really changed a lot in the past 4 years 😂

[@johncotter1600]

They have Surfliner Heritage units now too.

[@johnpaulmakowski7464]

Did the train originate from Chicago? And did it stop in Fond du Lac Wisconsin?

[@elleryparsons5766]

How man C&NW passengers trains ran Back in the Day?

[@mikefournier2601]

What did say 400 - 400 miles -400 miles an hour something like that ?

[@paulbrennan5646]

Nice upload but to bad there is no sound.

[@cnwalco9269]

Could the unknown siding be "Siding G.X." between Aniwa, WI and Antigo, WI?

[@scoobycarr5558]

Excellent views on trackage that's no longer there. It's a shame that the North Western was forced to embargo and abandon many route miles of its system because it was like all other railroads during strict government regulation - being a public utility instead of a private business.

[@Robbi496]

Actually Scooby, the traffic sources for the line "dried up" so they HAD to abandon it! (BTW, it was abandoned AFTER deregulation, not before)

[@scoobycarr5558]

OK, I see

[@lcar4000]

i think it was the lessening of government regulation that allowed railroads to abandon these lightly used lines. Prior to deregulation, it was very difficult for a railroad to get permission to abandon

[@latinalover2715]

No Sound ?

[@bonzoleumdrummer5382]

1:15 does the bridge still exist?

[@charlesgriffith4217]

What is the consist of this train?

[@Wdroster]

I think the unknown siding was McNaughton, WI.

[@TheLpbrennan]

That was indeed McNaughton. I remember that old boxcar. State Road 47 crossed to the west of the tracks there. The next place before Woodruff was Lake Tomahawk, where i once saw a C&NW freight stopped there and the crew walking to a hamburger joint for lunch.

[@Wdroster]

My parents had a cabin just off 47 between McNaughton and Lake Tom. The boxcar was probably gone by then, early 1980s.

[@TheLpbrennan]

That is correct -- I was at the Scout Camp from 1966 to 1979, and the old car disappeared in the Seventies.

[@Isochest]

This service looked well used. Is there a passenger service today on this railway?

[@jaytimmerman992]

No, and there hasn't been any service along this route since 1970. Many miles of this route have been abandoned, with the rails removed, during the subsequent decades.

[@Isochest]

@@jaytimmerman992Sad. US federal air subsidies should not have happened. Track is in situ to the south of eland but waiting for freight customers. Passenger rail helps justify a through route. Best wishes from Manchester UK

[@saralemirande3504]

Those tracks unfortunately are all taken out :-( from Ashland to New London

[@bcrnfan]

Nice video. Too bad it didn't have the actual sound to go with it.

[@mikefournier2601]

That's the 400---400 miles -

[@mikefournier2601]

We go see come in at night in Escanaba mich it would come in about 11 pm could see that light comeing way down the line spooky looking in the dark light swing back an forth

[@salomongoldenberg2768]

1963 was going to be a perfect great year... till John F. Kennedy was murdered, victim of a plot... What a shame!

[@scoobycarr5558]

Wisconsin, hope you had a field day with automobiles and highways and taking away the CNW's 400s! As well as the rest of America doing away with passenger trains!

[@25mfd]

for sure the national highway system and the affordability of the auto doomed passenger rail... that was THE golden era for transport... the term we're looking for is creative destruction

[@user-ho2qt2eu5w]

No sound