Meet Our Fleet!
Meet the trains that were built to move America where we wanted to go!
This is the passenger car fleet of the American Passenger Train History Museum. Here you can explore the cars and get a sense of the part they played in the history of the United States.
Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas
Hiawatha: Nothing Faster on Rails
Inspired by the epic poem Song of the Hiawatha, these trains ran across the Midwest and West. Five trains received the Hiawatha name. Here at the American Passenger Train history Museum, we are proud to highlight these famous trains: the Olympian Hiawatha and the Morning/Afternoon Hiawatha. We are also proud that we hold the largest collection of Hiawatha equipment in the country! Now sit back and enjoy a trip on the old Milwaukee Road.
Milwaukee Road #621
40 Seat Leg-rest Coach
Built by the Milwaukee Shops as 48 seat coach #516 in 1948. This car was converted to it's current - 40 seat leg-rest - configuration and renumbered #621 in 1957. #621 regularly traveled at speeds in excess of 100mph on the Milwaukee Road's fleet of Hiawathas. After venerably serving the railroad for 23 years, Coach #621 was sold to Amtrak in 1974 - during the fuel crisis - and renumbered #4007. Amtrak retired the car in 1975 and it was sold to the Griggsville Wild Bird Society in Griggsville, IL where it was used for their Purple Martin Junction Museum. In 1988 this car was sold, along with several others, by the Wild Bird Society to become a conference enter and scenic railroad in Atlantic, IA. After the venture fell though, #621 was purchased by a private owner and moved to Chamberlain, SD in 1995. In November of 2022, #621 was donated to APTHM for preservation. After a year of stabilization, fundraising, and prepping for shipment, it was delivered to APTHM on Friday, January 19th, 2024.
Milwaukee Road #486
52 Seat Coach
Built by the Milwaukee Shops as a 52 seat coach for the Olympian Hiawatha in 1947. #486 regularly traveled between Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Seattle/Tacoma along Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension. In 1948, new coaches were delivered to upgrade the Olympian and Twin Cities Hiawathas, which led to this car series being reassigned to other trains. After serving the railroad for 24 years, #486 was sold to Amtrak in 1974 - during the fuel crisis - and renumbered #5296. Amtrak retired the car in 1975 and it was sold to the Griggsville Wild Bird Society in Griggsville, IL where it was used for their Purple Martin Junction Museum. In 1988 this car was sold, along with several others, by the Wild Bird Society to become a conference enter and scenic railroad in Atlantic, IA. After the venture fell though, #486 was purchased by a private owner and moved to Chamberlain, SD in 1995. In November of 2022, #486 was donated to APTHM for preservation. After a year of stabilization, fundraising, and prepping for shipment, it was delivered to APTHM on Friday, January 19th, 2024. This car is unique because it retains the original interior window-band design that mimics the original Olympian Hiawatha paint scheme.
Milwaukee Road #623
40 Seat Leg-rest Coach
Built by the Milwaukee Shops as 48 seat coach #518 in 1948. This car was converted to it's current - 40 seat leg-rest - configuration and renumbered #623 in 1957. #623 regularly traveled in the Milwaukee Road's fleet of Hiawathas. After venerably serving the railroad for 23 years, it was sold to Amtrak in 1974 and was renumbered 4009. Upon retirement in 1975, the car was sold to the Griggsville Wild Bird Society and moved to Griggsville, IL where it was used for their Purple Martin Junction Museum. By 1983, the museum had closed, with the collection being sold to the Atlantic & Pacific Railway Corp in 1987 and moved to Atlantic, Iowa the following year. By 1995 the equipment was sold again and two years later, museum founder Bob Moen purchased the car.
Milwaukee Road #471
56 seat rib-sided coach
Built by the Milwaukee Shops as 56 seat coach #471 as part of the 1942 upgrade to the Twin Cities Hiawatha. This car stands out in our Hiawatha equipment as it was built using the unique, rib-sided car design. Being under construction at the time World War 2 broke out, the Milwaukee Road had to obtain permission from the War Production Board to finish construction of this fleet of cars. After serving the railroad for 29 years, Coach #471 was retired in 1971 and donated to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. #471 was purchased from the museum by Bob Moen in 1999 and became part of our Hiawatha train set at APTHM's inception.
Milwaukee Road #165
Lunch Lounge
Built by the Milwaukee Shops as an 18 seat café, 26 seat bar-lounge for the Olympian Hiawatha in 1947. #165 regularly traveled between Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Seattle/Tacoma along the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension. In December of 1952, the iconic Super Domes were delivered to upgrade the Olympian and Twin Cities Hiawathas, which led to this car series being reassigned to other trains. In 1971-72 this car, along with Milwaukee-built diners and coaches, were leased to Amtrak for use on the Chicago-Minneapolis second section of the Empire Builder. Following Amtrak service, this car was sold to Westfield Enterprises and used as part of Cloverleaf Station Restaurant. After being sold to Coe Rail in Walled Lake, MI, the car was acquired by several museum members and eventually joined the collection that created APTHM.
Milwaukee Road #122
48 seat Diner
Built by the Milwaukee Shops as a 48 seat diner in 1948. #122 regularly traveled at speeds in excess of 100mph on the Milwaukee Road's Twin Cities Hiawathas. After serving the railroad for 23 years, Diner #122 was retired in 1971 and sold to Autoliner Corp of Omaha, NE. The car was later donated to Durham Museum in Omaha, NE, thus starting a string of private owners. The car was eventually rescued from Kansas City, MO in 2010, moved to Charles City, IA, and now belongs to our Hiawatha train set.
Milwaukee Road #24
Jefferson River
8-6-4 Sleeper
Built by Pullman-Standard in 1948 as an 8 duplex roomette, 6 roomette, 4 double bedroom sleeping car for the Pioneer Limited. This car occasionally saw service on the Olympian Hiawatha during high travel seasons in the early 1950s. Sold to Henry Castro in 1971, then to Don Barzak around 1980 who operated as part of the Milwaukee Great Northern Bar. In 2004, Jefferson River was sold to the Kansas City Union Station Museum. After years in storage, the car was privately acquired by APTHM members in 2017 and moved to Charles City, IA. This car is unique because it is the sole surviving example of this series which had the duplex roomettes in the center of the car.
Great Northern's Empire Builder
The Incomparable Empire Builder
Taken from the nick-name of Great Northern's founder, James J. Hill, the Empire Builder was originally inaugurated in June of 1929. In 1947, Great Northern reintroduced the train as the first streamliner between Chicago and Seattle. Domes were added to the train in 1955. Taken over by Amtrak in 1971, the Empire Builder name is still used to this day.
Great Northern #1320
Dome Coach
Built by Budd in 1955 as a 46-seat dome coach for the Empire Builder. This was the class leader of the series and three of these cars were regularly assigned to each trainset of the Builder. One of these cars was also assigned to the Western Star during the winter for first few years after delivery to the Great Northern. These cars were known for their colorful Northwest Coast Native Artwork, all of which still remains in the #1320 to this day. Some may know this car from its time painted in BN green in 1968. In 1971, the car was transferred to Amtrak and renumbered #9460. The car eventually became surplus and sold to APTHM's founder in a 1993 auction.
Union Pacific #5437
44 seat Coach
Built in 1950 for service on Union Pacific Cities trains from Chicago to the West Coast. This car represents the eleven UP coaches that Great Northern purchased in 1969. It also represents Great Northern's fleet of 48 seat coaches that were sold to New Jersey Transit and subsequently gutted for commuter service. #5437 was sold to Alaska Railroad in 1971 and then transferred into Private ownership in 2005, which is when it returned to the continental US. In 2011 this car arrived in Charles City and became part of APTHM's founding fleet. This car is currently painted in Great Northern's Big Sky Blue paint scheme to represent what it's sister would have looked like while in service for the Great Northern.
Great Northern #1243
Iceberg Lake
Ranch Lounge
Built by American Car & Foundry in 1951 for Great Northern's Empire Builder. #1243 served as the coffee-shop diner and lounge to provide inexpensive meals for the train's coach passengers. The interior included rough hewn oak walls, hitching posts, branding irons, and cow-hide upholstery. Due to this unique, western ranch themed interior, the car became popular with the sleeping car passenger as well. The car remained in service on the Empire Builder under Amtrak, was renumbered as #8152. In 1976 the car was sold to youth group to be used as a club house in Wisconsin. After being sold in 1987 to a collector in Waukon, Iowa, #1243 was acquired by Bob Moen in 1991. The car came to Charles City in 2013 when it rejoined the rest of the APTHM Fleet.
Great Northern #1384
Lewis & Clark Pass
6-5-2 Sleeper
Built in 1950 by Pullman-Standard as a 6-rommette, 5-double bedroom, 2 compartment sleeping car. This car served most of its life on the Empire Builder with occasional stents on the Winnipeg Limited after 1955. In 1974, Amtrak bought the car and renumbered it to #2450. Sold into Private ownership in 1977 and resided in Bellevue, Ohio. After changing hands in 2005, #1384 was acquired by the American Passenger Train History Museum in 2023 with plans to move the car to Charles City in 2024 or 2025. Lewis & Clark Pass is another rare sleeper owned by APTHM as it is only one of two surviving cars of the Pass series sleepers.
Pennsylvania Railroad #8338
Greenwood
10-6 Sleeper
Built by Budd Company in 1949 for the Pennsylvania Railroad as a 10-rommette, 6-double bedroom sleeper for use on the New York to Florida trains with Seaboard Air Line. When Penn-Central was created, Greenwood was renumbered as #4372. Amtrak acquired the car in 1973 and renumbered it again to #2708. Amtrak sold the car into private ownership in 1992. In 1995, several members of the museum went in together to buy the car and moved it to Minnesota. In 2003, the car moved with the majority of the founding fleet to Charles City. APTHM is planning to continue the work of its members in converting the car to a 6-Bedroom lounge. The lounge will be modeled after the lower-lounge of Great Northern's Great Domes.
Zephyrs, Rockets, and Other Trains
Four trains in one!
With this fleet we plan to present more than one train. Given the similarity of the basic cars, we can swap the feature lounge cars to demonstrate four famous passenger trains: Burlington's Zephyrs, Rock Island's Rockets, Santa Fe's Chiefs, and Southern Pacific/Rock Island's Golden State.
CB&Q #1601
Silver Mail
Pre-War Railway Post Office Car
Built in 1940 for Burlington's Ak-sar-ben Zephyr and Advanced Flyer services between Chicago and Lincoln, NE as a Railway Post Office car. Railway Post Office cars - commonly referred to as RPO's - were stables of the golden age of rail travel as they carried the majority of mail across North America. The United States Postal Service staffed the cars and on-board mail clerks sorted mail while the trains flew along the rails. Silver Mail was retired in 1971 and transfer to work train service. Eventually, sold into private ownership. and sold into private ownership, it was donated to APTHM in 2023. This car is similar to RPO's used on the Rockets, Chiefs, and Golden State.
CB&Q #4712
Silver Crown
Pre-War Coach
Built in 1940 for CB&Q's Ak-sar-ben Zephyr and Advanced Flyer services between Chicago and Lincoln, NE as a 52-seat coach. Later in life, it was demoted to general pool service where it periodically was assigned to the California Zephyr as an extra car to address growing coach travel demand. It was retired in 1971 and placed in work train service. Saved from the scrapper's torch in 1987 when it was purchased by a private owner. Eventually, Silver Crown became part of the museum's founding collection and was brought to Charles City. Identical coaches were build for the Santa Fe and Rock Island.
CB&Q #4704
Silver Glow
Pre-War Coach
Built in 1940 for as one of two 52-seat coaches for Burlington's Silver Streak Zephyr between Kansas City and Lincoln, NE. Later in life, it was demoted to general pool service where it periodically was assigned to the California Zephyr as an extra car to address growing coach travel demand. It was retired in 1971 and placed in work train service. Saved from the scrapper's torch in 1987 when it was purchased by a private owner. Eventually, Silver Glow became part of the museum's founding collection and was brought to Charles City. Identical coaches were build for the Santa Fe and Rock Island.
D&RGW #1140
Silver Shop
Dome Buffet Lounge Dorm
Built in 1948 as part of Denver & Rio Grande Western's contribution to the California Zephyr. This train was jointly operated by the Burlington, Rio Grande, and Western Pacific railways between Chicago and San Fransisco (Oakland). Known for its spectacular scenery, this route was the birthplace of the dome cars. This car provided cafe and lounge service for the coach passengers, while dome seating was reserved for sleeping car passengers. The sleeping quarters for the onboard train crew, this car provides the museum's only example of crew dormitory space. The famed Cable Car Lounge was the result of a 1960's remodel aimed at emulating San Fransisco's famed tourist attraction.
After declining to join Amtrak in 1971, D&RGW retained Silver Shop for use on their Rio Grande Zephyr. The Rio Grande joined Amtrak in 1983, and by 1987 the car was sold to Via Rail and stored in Montreal, QC. After many years in storage, a private individual repatriated the car and brought it back to the US where it was again stored. After the owner's passing the car spent many years on the market before being donated to APTHM in 2021 by the estate. This is one of the dedicated feature cars for our California Zephyr train set.
Santa Fe #1491
48 seat Diner
Built as part of a 14 car order of 40 seat dining cars for the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway. This car was frequently used on their luxury train, The Super Chief, between Chicago and Los Angeles throughout the 1940s. As newer equipment was delivered, this car was assigned to Santa Fe's other trains, such as the Chief, San Fransisco Chief, and Texas Chief. In 1971, #1491 was transferred to Amtrak. Eventually, the car was retired and sold into private ownership. Acquired in 2005 by APTHM's president, the car was part of the collection at the inception of the museum. This car is identical to the diners used on the Golden State, Twin Star Rocket, and the Zephyrs.
More Cars coming Soon!
Under Construction!
This area is under construction as we update and build out our website. Keep an eye on these pages as we continue to add the remainder of our fleet!