Milwaukee Road Hiawatha

[@woodynj]

I believe so, yes. In fact, my new Lionel copy of the 261 has both a steam whistle and an air horn. I read somewhere that the Milwaukee Road had done some research in the mid-1930s showing that the air horn was a "new" sound and attracted more response from motorists than the "old fashioned" steam whistle. With Milwaukee Road streamliners cruising at 100 mph across Wisconsin and northern Illinois, the railroad needed to get every bit of motorists' attention,

[@BenAliGtor]

My late dad was a kid when he saw the Hi on its maiden run in the thirties. And one of my friend's grandfather was a Milwaukee Rd. hostler who used to regularly tailhose the Beavertail obs from the Western Avenue yard into Union Station. Some call the Espee GS-4's "the worlds's most beautiful locomotives", but I think the Atlantics (4-4-2's) and Baltics (4-6-4's) of the CMStP&P give those Daylights great competition for the title.

[@ilovemthtrains]

All you need now is smoke.... NICE :) Beautiful piece

[@billbarman]

Beautiful!

[@woodynj]

That's because it is an air-horn, rather than a steam whistle. The air horn is what the Milwaukee Road actually put on its Hiawatha locomotives.

[@BenAliGtor]

"Your Dad have pictures or films of the Hi?" I WISH! He was "a kid growing up in the Depression, had to walk to school barefoot 10 miles in the snow, yadda, yadda.." Long story short: no cash for a camera. He did tell me how they left pennies on the track for the Hi to flatten- I think every CFRN has done that.

[@woodynj]

Thanks for the note! Your Dad have pictures or films of the Hi? I have great memories of riding the Hi's in the 1950s between Milwaukee and Wausau. I agree totally with your remark that the Milwaukee Road trains rivalled the best of the SP.

[@woodynj]

Hmmmm, you're correct. That was one button I forgot to push on the train remote controller.

[@woodynj]

So did the Milwaukee Road. But the 4-4-2 Atlantics came first, starting in 1935. Cruising at better than 100 mph, they did precisely the job the Milwaukee Road expected. But their great success resulted in very heavy passenger traffic, and the railroad felt constant pressure to lengthen passenger trains, which required heavier locomotives. Pacifics followed the Atlantics, and then, in 1939, I think, the mighty Hudsons rolled in.

[@bobmartin3]

TheO-Gauge 12 Days of Christmas Freight Train Headed By A Century Club Berkshire #726, And The 2006 Lionel O-Scale Hiawatha Passenger Train Headed A By Streamlined 4-4-2 Atlantic!