Rochester 400

The Minnesota 400 was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway on its southern Minnesota line between Mankato, Minnesota and Wyeville, Wisconsin. It began running in 1936. In 1950 it was extended to run between Chicago, Illinois and Huron, South Dakota and renamed the Dakota 400. It would be further extended to Rapid City, South Dakota, before being cut back to Mankato, in 1960. This final iteration was named the Rochester 400 and it ceased operation in 1963.

History

The Minnesota 400 began service in a similar way to the original Twin Cities to Chicago 400, with heavyweight passenger cars pulled by an ordinary, non-streamlined steam locomotive. These were originally C&NW Class D 4-4-2 Atlantics, but they were already more than 30 years old at that point. In 1938, more passenger cars were added to the trains, so the locomotives were replaced by Class ES 4-6-2 Pacifics, with streamlined shrouds. These were still about 25 years old, but were better able to handle the heavier load. The train still primarily ran with heavyweight passenger cars until after World War II, finally receiving a full consist of streamlined cars in 1946. It was still another four years before the first EMD E8 diesel locomotives began pulling the train in 1950. At that time, the service was expanded to South Dakota and renamed the Dakota 400.