Transport: 400

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Faster than Twentieth Century (54.1 m.p.h.), faster than the Broadway Limited (51.2 m.p.h.), faster than the Burlington's famed Zephyr (49.5 m.p.h.) was the train that Chicago & North Western Ry, sent over the rails between Chicago and Minneapolis last week. Called The 400 because it covers 400 miles in 400 minutes, North Western's new train made railroad history by being the fastest train scheduled on the American Continent, fastest in all the world on a stretch over 200 mi. But what made The 400 really significant news was that it was neither lightweight nor streamlined, powered by neither a Diesel nor an electric engine. To all appearances a conventional, standard, all-steel, air-conditioned train, The 400 was hauled by a big, black, puffing steam locomotive.

Peacock-proud, North Western splashed big advertisements in Chicago and Manhattan newspapers, plugged The 400 over the radio, announced a forthcoming $1,000 prize contest. To make The 400 possible it had spent $100,000, a year of research and preparation. The roadbed had been reballasted, curves "super-elevated." Boiler pressure on the locomotive was stepped up, traction increased, oil substituted for coal to eliminate fuel stops. The 400 hit 91 on its maiden trip last week, clipped off 81 mi. in 67 min., zipped through a ceremonial tape at 85, snorted into St. Paul 2 hr. 52 min. under the old schedule.

Actually, The 400 takes 420 minutes to cover the 410.6 mi. between Chicago and St. Paul, averaging only 58.8 m.p.h. Thirty minutes later The 400 pulls into Minneapolis, making a total run of 450 min. Winner of the Award for Safety among Class A Railroads for the past four years, North Western has no intention of sacrificing safety and comfort for speed, but it is willing to spend money. To operate The 400 costs 95¢ a mile compared with 75¢ for regular trains. To the public the fare is the same ($14.67 round-trip).

Highly annoyed by North Western's new train last week was Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific R. R. Milwaukee officials claimed North Western had "jumped the gun" on a gentlemen's agreement between the Milwaukee, Burlington and North Western to institute high-speed schedules simultaneously next March. Caught napping, the Milwaukee Road quickly inaugurated mile-a-minute service between Chicago and Milwaukee (85 mi.), pushed delivery of two streamlined engines for its Chicago-Twin Cities route. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. quietly announced that it would put two Zephyrs on the Twin Cities run within 60 days, knock 30 minutes off the seven and a half hour schedule of The 400.