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The Milwaukee Road Class A were a class of 4 streamlined 4-4-2 Atlantic built by ALCO from 1935 - 1937 for the Milwaukee Road to pull the Hiawatha passenger train.
During the years of the Great Economic Depression, very few railroads in America were allowed mortifying declines in traffic revenues including stocks. One solution that many railroads attempted to overture to the public in order to maintain passenger ridership was to grant newly acquired sleek-streamlined trains that could go faster as lower operating costs. The Chicago Minneapolis St. Paul Railway (or Milwaukee Road) was no exception at that time. But a fierce competition ensued between the Chicago Burlington & Quincy, Chicago & Northwestern and the Milwaukee Road to submit the fastest service between Chicago, Illinois and Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.
First the CB&Q experimented with a streamlined diesel-powered consist called The Zephyr, then the C&NW recommissioned a number of 4-6-2 Pacifics and the road's current passenger cars, creating the 400 for its 400-minute service, while the Milwaukee Road ordered four 4-4-2 Atlantics from ALCO, long before their own shops designed and built two sets of six matching cars. The result was the strongest 4-4-2 Atlantic ever formed (highest HP) and a fleet of passenger cars that weighed 35% less than a conventional heavyweight equipment of the time.
The locomotive had four enormous 84" drivers, shorter cylinders, and an eccentric arrangement of the running gear stemming from the lead driver rather than the second driver, which dramatically decreased piston speeds, much less taxing on the running gear overall. The new 1935 timetable called for 422 miles in (7) hours with an average speed of 60 mph with only eleven stops along the route. Consists began in '35 with a Tip Top Tap buffet lounge car, three coaches, one parlor car, and a beaver tail parlor observation car. By the end of the 1st year, another coach was acquired to accommodate the increasing popularity of the train. By 1937 before WWII, the train extended into nine cars in length, and still growing as needed.
At this point, the Milwaukee Road decided to modernize their 4-6-4 F-7 class Hudsons which pushed the 4-4-2 Atlantics to reassign on other Hiawatha trains. Designed and built as oil-burners, equipped with a Leslie A-125 air horn instead of a usual steam whistle, the 'A' class was well chosen steam engine designed to cruise at about 100 mph on a daily basis, which they did for 16 years until eventually dieselization took over in 1951.
Stock list[]
| Image | No. | Serial No. | Build date | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | 68684 | 1935 | ALCO | Withdrawn in November, 1951 and scrapped. |
|
2 | 68685 | 1935 | ALCO | Withdrawn in November, 1951 and scrapped. |
|
3 | 68729 | 1936 | ALCO | Withdrawn in September, 1949 and used as spare parts for the others intill 1951, scrapped. |
|
4 | 68828 | 1937 | ALCO | Withdrawn in June, 1951 and scrapped. |
Trivia[]
- One of the Streamlined Steam Trains was Based on a Milwaukee Road A Class from Everyone's Hero (2006).