North Coast Hiawatha

North Coast Hiawatha
An EMD F3 leads the North Coast Hiawatha into Yakima, Washington in August, 1971.
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Western United States
Predecessor	North Coast Limited/Mainstreeter
First service	June 5, 1971
Last service	October 6, 1979
Successor	None
Former operator(s)	Amtrak
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
Stops	37
End	Seattle, Washington
Distance travelled	2,228 miles (3,586 km)
Average journey time	46 hours, 40 minutes
Service frequency	Tri-weekly
Train number(s)	17/18
On-board services
Sleeping arrangements	Sleeping cars
Catering facilities	Full dining car On-board lounge
Observation facilities	Dome lounge
Baggage facilities	Baggage car
Route map Legend Dist. Station 0 mi Chicago 17 mi  27 km  Glenview Illinois/Wisconsin border 85 mi  137 km  Milwaukee 150 mi  241 km  Columbus 178 mi  286 km  Portage 195 mi  314 km  Wisconsin Dells 245 mi  394 km  Tomah 281 mi  452 km  La Crosse Wisconsin/Minnesota border 307 mi  494 km  Winona 371 mi  597 km  Red Wing 421 mi  678 km  St. Paul-Minneapolis Empire Builder to Willmar 486 mi  782 km  St. Cloud 551 mi  887 km  Staples 613 mi  987 km  Detroit Lakes Minnesota/North Dakota border Empire Builder to Breckenridge 663 mi  1067 km  Fargo Empire Builder to Grand Forks 720 mi  1159 km  Valley City 754 mi  1213 km  Jamestown 856 mi  1378 km  Bismarck 862 mi  1387 km  Mandan 962 mi  1548 km  Dickinson North Dakota/Montana border 1067 mi  1717 km  Glendive 1146 mi  1844 km  Miles City 1191 mi  1917 km  Forsyth 1292 mi  2079 km  Billings 1408 mi  2266 km  Livingston 1433 mi  2306 km  Bozeman Proposed new routing via Helena 1528 mi  2459 km  Butte 1527 mi  2457 km  Helena 1568 mi  2523 km  Deer Lodge 1647 mi  2651 km  Missoula 1718 mi  2765 km  Paradise Montana/Idaho border Empire Builder to Libby 1838 mi  2958 km  Sandpoint Idaho/Washington border 1902 mi  3061 km  Spokane 2022 mi  3254 km  Ephrata 2074 mi  3338 km  Wenatchee 2195 mi  3533 km  Everett 2211 mi  3558 km  Edmonds 2228 mi  3586 km  Seattle

The North Coast Hiawatha was a streamlined passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It operated from 1971 to 1979. The train was a successor to the Northern Pacific Railway's North Coast Limited and Mainstreeter, although it used the route of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") east of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. The train's name combined the North Coast Limited with the Milwaukee Road's famed Hiawathas. Created at the behest of the United States Congress, the North Coast Hiawatha enjoyed an uncertain existence before being discontinued in 1979. Since then there have been several attempts to restore the service, without success.

History

Background

A 1956 advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post touted the North Coast Limited's amenities.

The flagship train on the Northern Pacific Railway ("NP") main line was the North Coast Limited, which had begun running in 1900. Its running mate since 1952 was the Mainstreeter, which operated on a slower schedule with fewer amenities. The Northern Pacific main line mirrored that of its great rival, the Great Northern Railway ("GN"), running through southern Montana and North Dakota. Even after the merger of the NP, GN, and Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad ("CB&Q") into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970, service continued on both the ex-Northern Pacific and ex-Great Northern. Amtrak chose the Great Northern's Empire Builder as its Chicago–Pacific Northwest route. Amtrak based this decision on several factors, including the overall higher speed of the ex-Great Northern route and better availability of alternative transportation options along the ex-Northern Pacific.^[1]:158

Operation

Amtrak's decision to discontinue the NP trains caused consternation in Montana. Mike Mansfield (D-Montana), then Senate Majority Leader, pointed out that the Empire Builder bypassed Montana's major population centers, and had no difficulty in making his displeasure felt. The new company reacted to the pressure and announced a resumption of service over the ex-Northern Pacific, to begin on June 14. This service took the form of an unnamed section of the Empire Builder running separately between Minneapolis and Spokane, Washington.^[1]:159 Mansfield's intervention earned the train the nickname “Mike Mansfield Limited”.^[2] The Northern Pacific route, which included the Yellowstone River, Homestake Pass and Bitterroot Mountains, was praised for its scenery.^[3] Amtrak considered the route one of the company's six most beautiful.^[4] The train also provided a convenient connection to Yellowstone National Park at Livingston, Montana.^[5]:111

On November 14, 1971, Amtrak formally named this service the North Coast Hiawatha, with a tri-weekly schedule between Chicago and Spokane independent of the Empire Builder. In Spokane it combined with the Empire Builder for the trip to Seattle. On the other four days of the week the train terminated in Minneapolis.^[6][7] Amtrak initially named the Minneapolis train Hiawatha, but adopted the Twin Cities Hiawatha name on January 16, 1972. Amtrak reverted to Hiawatha on October 29, and this name remained until the North Coast Hiawatha went daily for the first time on May 19, 1974.^[8]:30–31

This joint operation ended on June 11, 1973, when Amtrak extended the North Coast Hiawatha to Seattle over the Great Northern's route, which included Stevens Pass and Cascade Tunnel. This new routing served the northern Washington communities of Wenatchee and Everett, which had previously been without service. The train remained on a tri-weekly schedule west of Minneapolis.^[6] For the summer of 1974 Amtrak added a second train, the Expo '74 (named for the "Expo '74" then being held in Spokane), to the Seattle–Spokane segment.^[1]:160

The schedule fluctuated over the next three years, with the train operating daily between Chicago and Seattle in the summers and reverting to tri-weekly west of Minneapolis the rest of the year. Amtrak would also run a daily service during the holiday season (as in 1975, when the train operated daily December 12 – January 12), but the train never operated a daily schedule for a full calendar year.^[6][9] In early 1976 the North Coast Hiawatha was threatened with discontinuance, along with the Pacific International and the three daily Portland, Oregon—Seattle trains, after the Ford Administration proposed budget cuts. Several members of Congress protested the proposed cuts, including Representative Max Baucus (D-Montana), and Senators Warren Magnuson (D-Washington) and Bob Packwood (R-Oregon). In the end Congress approved a budget for Amtrak $62 million above the administration's request, saving all three services.^[10][11][12]

Amtrak announced in October 1976 that the North Coast Hiawatha would be the second train, after the Empire Builder, to receive the new bi-level Superliner coaches, then on order from Pullman Standard.^[13] In the end the train was cancelled before the Superliners entered long-distance service. In the spring of 1977 Amtrak added seven hours to the schedule, increasing it to 52 hours 30 minutes. The change was prompted by new speed restrictions on Amtrak trains after a rash of derailments involving the new EMD SDP40F diesel locomotives.^[6][14] In September Amtrak eliminated the off-day Chicago—St. Paul service, leaving the North Coast Hiawatha with three trips a week. Amtrak reduced the Empire Builder to quad-weekly service as well.^[15] The Twin Cities Hiawatha returned as a daytime service between Chicago and Minneapolis.^[1]:161

In November Amtrak reduced the running time to 46 hours 40 minutes, after the replacement of the SDP40Fs permitted an easing of speed restrictions.^[16] Even as this improved service began, the train was threatened with cancellation. Facing a budget deficit of $60 million, Amtrak identified a half dozen routes which it considered "financially troubled." Amtrak proposed merging the North Coast Hiawatha and the Empire Builder, or even cancelling both.^[17] Throughout 1978 no decision was taken, and the two trains continued to provide between them daily service between Chicago and Seattle.^[18]

Discontinuance

In January 1979 Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams announced plans to cut 12,000 miles (19,000 km) from Amtrak's network. The North Coast Hiawatha was one of many routes scheduled for elimination.^[20] The train had faced cancellation before, but after eight years of federal subsidies members of Congress favored retrenchment.^[21][22] Once-vocal supporters such as Senator Magnuson expressed regret but made no public commitment.^[23] Adams noted that the service recovered only $6 million against expenses of $24 million, and that the per-passenger cost was $178.^[19]

In July an attempt by Representative (and future Vice President) Al Gore (D-Tennessee) to impose a one-year moratorium on the proposed system-wide cuts failed 214-197.^[24] In the end the Senate approved a smaller cutback, citing a 24% spike in Amtrak ridership after an oil shock during the summer, but the North Coast Hiawatha remained on the chopping block.^[25] In late September the Railway Labor Executives' Association, along with Senator John Melcher (D-Montana) and Representative Pat Williams (D-Montana), sued the U.S. Department of Transportation to prevent the discontinuance of the service, then scheduled for October 1.^[26] A federal judge temporarily restrained Amtrak from ending the service, but the last North Coast Hiawathas ran on October 6, 1979, arriving in Chicago on the 7th and Seattle on the 8th.^[1]:166

Proposed return

Over the years there have been periodic attempts to restore service in southern Montana and North Dakota. A proposed plan from 1982–1983 would have involved North Dakota and Montana paying 45% of costs in the first year and 65% thereafter of a new section of the Empire Builder operating tri-weekly between Fargo and Sandpoint. This proposal went nowhere as neither state voted funds. Another proposal mooted in 1991 would have required an additional yearly federal appropriation of $12–15 million plus new equipment. In this scenario the Portland section would operate over the old route. Again, nothing came of it.^[1]:167

In 2008 Congress directed Amtrak to study resumption of service, which rekindled hope of restoration.^[27] Amtrak published a feasibility study in October 2009, which proposed restoring the North Coast Hiawatha to its 1979 route where possible with a daily schedule. Amtrak projected a yearly ridership of 359,800, some of whom would be drawn from the Empire Builder. Amtrak estimated that $1 billion in funds would be necessary to relaunch the service, including over $300 million for new locomotives and rolling stock. The corporation estimated it would take four to five years to reintroduce the service if a decision was made to move forward.^[28]

Equipment

The North Coast Hiawatha saw a variety of motive power and rolling stock during its eight years, as Amtrak disposed of its inherited equipment as best it could and gradually replaced the older equipment with its own stock. In the early 1970s a typical train might feature as many as four dome cars pulled by ex-Milwaukee Road EMD E9s. In the summer of 1972 the train maxed out at 18 cars, including five dome coaches, an ex-California Zephyr dome lounge, and a dome-sleeper-lounge. The 1970 Burlington/Great Northern merger notwithstanding, cars carried both the "Big Sky Blue" livery characteristic of late Great Northern passenger trains and the "Cascade Green" of the Burlington Northern Railroad.^[1]:170

The train was one of many routes to receive the new EMD SDP40F, which worked the route between 1974–1977, although older EMD E8 and EMD E9s continued to be used.^[1]:171 A series of derailments involving the SDP40F prompted their replacement, and by late 1977 Amtrak had introduced the EMD F40PH. These sometimes ran with an E9 "B" unit as well.^[29]:2

References

External links

• 1979 timetable
• 1976 route brochure
• Amtrak: North Coast Hiawatha Study Plan