Oddsconsin...where we explore peculiar and sometimes mysterious features of Wisconsin’s human landscape.
The Great Pyramid of Giza. The Great Wall of China. The Roman aqueducts. How do we explain these historic marvels, built centuries ago when engineering and mathematical knowledge was less advanced than today? This question has led some to conclude these structures were built by advanced civilizations that have vanished, or even by aliens from other planets.
The 400 State Trail poses similar questions, albeit on a shorter timeframe. The trail, which opened in 1993, runs for 22 miles along the Baraboo River, connecting the communities of Elroy, Union Center and Wonewoc in Juneau County, and La Valle and Reedsburg in Sauk County. The trail is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and is intended for hiking, biking and horseback riding.
Like many other trails in Wisconsin, the 400 State Trail follows a reclaimed railroad line. But this railroad line is unique. The trail is named for the Chicago & North Western (C&NW) passenger train service called the “400” that once traveled the 400 miles between Chicago and Minneapolis in 400 minutes. The 400 made its first run in 1935. Powered by the latest steam locomotives, the train reached top speeds of 110 miles per hour. This blazing speed was made possible by C&NW’s advanced railway infrastructure, which included heavy rails and elevated curves, and meticulous inspections to find defects in the railway. In 1939, the 400’s steam engines were replaced with diesel power.
The “Twin Cities 400” train provided daily service, both westbound to Minneapolis and eastbound to Chicago. A 1941 timetable shows the trip took 6 hours and 45 minutes. The eastbound train left Minneapolis and crossed the Mississippi River on the Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1883 and today used for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. After a stop in St. Paul, the train passed through the Wisconsin communities of Eau Claire, Wyeville, Adams, Beaver Dam, Milwaukee and Racine. In Chicago, the journey ended at the massive C&NW Passenger Terminal, built in 1911 and demolished in 1984. The site is now Metra Rail’s Ogilvie Transportation Center and is a few blocks from Union Station, which is Chicago’s Amtrak hub.
The route followed by the Twin Cities 400 did not pass through the preserved section of the line forming the 400 State Trail. A 1952 timetable shows that the route split at Wyeville. The Twin Cities 400 departed Wyeville for Adams, Beaver Dam, Milwaukee and Racine, arriving in Chicago in 6 hours and 44 minutes. The alternate route was the “Dakota 400,” which departed Wyeville and passed through Elroy, Reedsburg, Madison, Janesville, Beloit, and other communities, reaching Chicago in 7 hours and 49 minutes. It is this latter route that the 400 State Trail follows today.
The service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago was express. Stops were limited and quite short. The train featured many amenities, including a tavern, a lunch counter, a lounge car, a dining car, parlor cars with drawing rooms, an observation car with a lounge and bar, and coach seating. The 400 operated through the early 1960s, a brief span of less than thirty years. Alternate modes of travel – the airline and automobile – changed the way Americans chose to travel, and the train became unprofitable.
In addition to the 400 State Trail, other remnants of the 400 passenger service survive, albeit in altered forms. In Madison, the C&NW’s 1910 depot still stands at the end of S. Blair St, where it houses the offices of Madison Gas and Electric. A few miles north, at 1741 Commercial Ave, a portion of the old C&NW roundhouse is now a renovated office space.
In Milwaukee, the C&NW depot was located at the end of Wisconsin Avenue, near the lakefront. Lake Front Depot closed in 1966 and was purchased by Milwaukee County, which demolished the building in 1968 to make space for freeway expansion – an ironic end to a building designed as a transportation hub.
In Reedsburg, the C&NW depot, which opened in 1906, has been restored and is home to the city’s Chamber of Commerce. The depot has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1984.
Today, railway travel times between Minneapolis and Chicago are longer than they were during the period of the 400 – and less convenient. Amtrak does not even stop in Minneapolis. The closest depot is in St. Paul. Amtrak’s Empire Builder takes 7 hours and 55 minutes to travel between St. Paul’s Union Depot and Union Station in Chicago. Amtrak’s Borealis – a new service introduced in 2024 – makes the same journey in 7 hours and 32 minutes.
The 400 made the trip from St. Paul to Chicago in 6 hours and 14 minutes along its fastest route, according to the 1952 timetable, beating today’s fastest train by over an hour.
The automobile, which helped supplant the railroad, is not much faster. Google Maps optimistically estimates the travel time between St. Paul’s Union Depot and Chicago’s Union Station to be 5 hours and 48 minutes. That represents an average speed of 70 miles per hour. With stops for gas, road construction and traffic, the trip is certainly longer than that. And automobile passengers have to do without the 400’s tavern, lunch counter and lounge car.
Progress isn’t always a straight line from past to present. Sometimes, we should give more credit to our ancestors’ accomplishments. The 400 train might not be quite as amazing as the ancient Chand Baori Stepwell of India or the Teotihuacan Pyramids of Mexico, but it undeniably outperforms today’s passenger train competition.