WINONA Minn. – The Chicago & Northwestern beefed up its Winona service in 1950 with a new train called the Dakota 400. The yellow streamliner carried a hospital car with an extra wide door to accommodate stretchers for Mayo Clinic patents. The new service replaced the former Minnesota 400, which ran 460 miles from a Chicago-St. Paul mainline connection in Wyeville, Wisconsin, to Huron, South Dakota. The new Dakota 400 in 1950 originated in Chicago for a 690-mile run that avoided transfers in Wyeville. The hospital car went as far as Mankato, where it was unhooked and then picked up on the return trip to Chicago.
The Elroy stop. The Dakota 400 on the Sparta-Elroy cut-off before the steep 3% grade and its three storied tunnels were abandoned. At one point the C&NW ran 50 freights and six passenger trains a day through Elroy. Points west were Sparta, LaCrosse, Winona and the even steeper 4% Lewiston grade to Rochester, The turnaround point was Huron South Dakota.
First-class consist
> A baggage car including a 16-seat tavern and lunch section with onboard radio entertainment via a rooftop antenna.
> One or two Pullman sleeping cars.
> A 48-seat dining car with table seating, although only as far west as Elroy, Wisconsin.
> A full parlor car, although only as far west as Mankato.
Black Hills bound
West of Mankato the train ran fewer cars. In Huron, tourists caught a connecting train to Rapid City and the Black Hills.
Cutbacks
In 1957 meal service was discontinued. In 1960 the train was returned its earlier name — Minnesota 400. Service was discontinued west Mankato. The heyday of rail travel was deteriorating fast, thanks to airplanes and superhighways. The last train was in 1963.
Winona timetable
Schedules varied over the years, but these Winona departures were typical in later years when Tracy became the end point in South Dakota as the route retrenched.
Eastbound: 9:40 p.m., to Chicago.
Westbound: 6:03 a.m., toTracy.