Milwaukee Road FP7 No. 99C at the Minneapolis Station on June 8, 1964.
(Photo © 2018 Marty Bernard, All Rights Reserved, Used by permission.)
SOUIX
The Sioux was a named passenger train of the Milwaukee Road that operated between Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Rapid City, South Dakota, via Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and northern Iowa. The train, No. 11, westbound, and No. 22, eastbound, operated coaches, dining cars and sleeping cars through most of its history.
On the route the train included a dining car serving breakfast, and a first-class parlor car. However, by the post-war 1940s, the parlor car was combined with dining car functions. West of Madison it also operated as a mail train, making frequent stops. The train crossed the Mississippi River on the Pile–Pontoon Railroad Bridge.
On October 1, 1951, the train was cut back to a Chicago to Canton, South Dakota, service with prepaid taxi connections to nearby Sioux Falls. In the 1950s, the Sioux itinerary between Chicago's Union Station and Madison, Wisconsin was limited stops between Chicago and Walworth; and service in that latter territory was handled by suburban Milwaukee Road trains.
In 1960 the train was further cut back to a Chicago to Madison coach service. The train ceased operation on May 1, 1971, when Amtrak assumed responsibility for providing a national rail service.
Route of the Souix.
(Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; via Wikimedia Commons)
Sioux Overview
Service type: Inter-city rail
Status: discontinued
Locale: Midwestern United States
First service: 1928
Last service: April 30, 1971
Former operator: Milwaukee Road
Route Termini: Chicago, Illinois / Rapid City, South Dakota
Distance traveled: 140 mi (230 km)
Train numbers: 11 (westbound), 22 (eastbound)
On-board services
Seating arrangements: Reclining seat lounge coaches
Sleeping arrangements: Sections and drawing room; (eastbound only: compartment also available) (1948)
Catering facilities: Parlor-dining service
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)