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C&NW Freight F's (SA-4)

The cold rails are barely visible as freshly painted Chicago & North Western EMD F-Units kick up the snow while leaning into a bend with a heavy freight. This painting is a beautiful contrast with the fresh powdery snow and striking colors. Two semaphores, fail-safe guardians for railroad traffic, stand like soldiers, one for each direction of rail movements. Safe operation of high speed freight trains was as important as the famous stable of crack passenger trains like "The 400's" and the multi operated "City of Los Angeles" and "City of San Francisco".

From Lake Michigan to the Pacific Shores of California, the Chicago & North Western Railway played a vital role in post-war freight and passenger service. Commerce and Industry are on the move and these green and yellow locomotives are in full charge of their consist.

These are just a few of the reasons the Chicago and North Western Railway, now a fallen flag, has so many fans and followers.

C&NW's Peninsula 400 (SL-4)

The Peninsula 400 was a Chicago and North Western streamliner to the north woods of Upper Michigan. Splashed with North Western's traditional yellow and green, she blended well into the rest of the 400 fleet. The streamliner was inaugurated in 1942, and was successful enough that in 1958, a new bilevel consist by Pullman Standard was introduced. The Peninsula 400 prowled north to communities such as Marinette, Escanaba, and Ishpeming providing service for everyone from a lone fisherman to a crowd from town visiting the Windy City. The end came in 1969 when the train was cut back to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The scene above depicts train 214, the Peninsula 400, slamming through the snowdrifts at an icy grade crossing near Port Washington, Wisconsin. The slant-nosed E3's are a natural for "scooping" snow off the right-of-way, and they sure are coming in handy on this blustery, winter day. A growl of four 567's, a whoosh of passing cars, a face full of snow, and the Peninsula 400 is through again.