Hiawatha Service - Consist

Consist

As of 2009, the usual Hiawatha train set consists of one GE Genesis locomotive on the northward end end, an EMD F40PH "cabbage car" on the southward end, and six coaches, consisitng of four Horizon Fleet coaches and an Amfleet coach on each end that serve as "quiet" cars. Since 2008, cabbage car 90230, wearing colors of the Cascades service in the Pacific Northwest, has often seen use on the Hiawatha.

On July 17, 2009, the State of Wisconsin announced it would purchase two new train sets from Spanish manufacturer Talgo in preparation for the enhanced-speed service that received funding in early 2010. Governor Scott Walker rejected the federal funding and cancelled the project. Talgo was to have built a manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to construct the trainsets for the Hiawatha Service, and the company hoped the plant would also build trains for future high-speed lines in the region. The unpowered tilting trainsets were to have been 14 cars long including a cab car, eleven coaches (five of which will have restrooms), one bistro car, and one end car including a bicycle rack. The cars were to sport a red-and-white livery in homage to the University of Wisconsin. It would have been likely that the trains would initially be pulled by the same GE Genesis locomotives used today, which have a top speed of 110 mph.