The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway’s Pacific Extension, the last transcontinental railroad, survived for 71 colorful years as racing silk trains sped along the route, long troop trains carried men and materiel through four wars, famed electric locomotives hosted presidents and celebrities, and the streamlined Olympian Hiawatha passenger train ran on the line. The Route of the Hiawatha Rail-Trail follows the most costly and difficult to build section of the railroad from Chicago to Tacoma, where thousands now travel the scenic, historic corridor and help keep alive the spirit of the Milwaukee Road.