The Chicago and North Western Class E-4 was a class of nine

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

4-6-4 "Hudson" steam locomotives built in 1937 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). The nine E-4's were almost identical in specification and purpose to the

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...

's six class F7 locomotives, and they were built by the same builder at the same time, yet their streamlined designs were different. The E-4's were built to haul the Chicago and North Western's (C&NW) famous ''"

400 __NOTOC__ Year 400 (Roman numerals, CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (consul 400), Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year ...

"'' express passenger trains, but before they were even delivered, the railroad's management decided that streamlined steam was the wrong direction and instead placed orders with

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Electro-Motive Division Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motiv ...

for new

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

s. The displaced E-4s instead pulled secondary passenger trains, until they were withdrawn from service between 1953 and 1956, and scrapping commenced on the fleet. Two remaining E-4's (Nos. 4008 and 4009) were kept in

Escanaba, Michigan Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city and the county seat of Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,450 at the 2020 census, making it the ...

to thaw frozen ore with heat from their boilers. In August 1961, Nos. 4008 and 4009 were replaced by a new infrared process, and since both E-4's had been welded to the rails, C&NW crews had to scrap them on site.

Other C&NW steam locomotives

* Chicago and North Western D Class 4-4-2 – A major workhorse of the C&NW, some were used on the ''

Minnesota 400 The ''Minnesota 400'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway on its southern Minnesota line between Mankato, Minnesota and Wyeville, Wisconsin. It began running in 1936. In 1950 it was extended to ru ...

''. * Chicago and North Western E Class

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

– Some converted to "ES" class with similar casing to the E-4. The ES engines succeeded Class D locomotives on the ''

''. * Chicago and North Western E-2 Class 4-6-2 – Twelve locomotives, four of which were converted to "E-2-a" class and were the original locomotives for the Twin Cities to Chicago ''400'' before being replaced by EMD E3 diesel units. The remaining eight were converted to "E-2-b" locomotives.

References

* * * http://steamlocomotive.com/locobase.php?country=USA&wheel=4-6-4&railroad=cnw {{Chicago and North Western Railway steam locomotives 4-6-4 locomotives 2′C2′ locomotives E-4 class ALCO locomotives Steam locomotives of the United States Streamlined steam locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1937 Scrapped locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Passenger locomotives American Passenger Locomotives