The Columbian was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("the Milwaukee Road") between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle/Tacoma, Washington. The westbound train was Milwaukee Road train #17, and the eastbound train was train #18. It was launched on Monday, May 29, 1911. The same day, the faster, limited-stop and more luxurious Olympian also launched. These were the first passenger trains to take advantage of the Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension, which had opened to freight in 1909. The first Columbian: 1911–1930 One of the last great railroad construction projects in the United States took place in the Pacific Northwest between 1906 and 1909, when the Milwaukee Road built its new line from the Midwest to Puget Sound. The new route gave the Milwaukee Road a continuous line from Chicago to Seattle/Tacoma, an asset claimed by no other single railroad. The subsidiary Chicago Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway Company was chartered in 1905 to build from the Missouri River to Seattle and Tacoma. At the completion in 1909, the Milwaukee began operating through freight trains on the route. Two daily Chicago - Puget Sound passenger trains were instituted on May 29, 1911—the Olympian and the Columbian. The Olympian was the premiere train on the route, with a faster schedule and more luxurious equipment; the Columbian was a secondary train, providing a more basic level of service on a slower schedule. Both trains operated throughout the 1910s and 1920s, initially surviving the bankruptcy of the Milwaukee Road in 1925. The Columbian, however, was discontinued in 1930, the victim of a downturn in rail traffic caused, in part, by the Great Depression. The Olympian continued to serve the entire Chicago - Tacoma line, and shorter-distance trains provided additional service on parts of the route. The 1947–1955 Columbian After the end of World War II, most American railway companies—including the Milwaukee Road—quickly began working to modernize their passenger services with new, lightweight streamliner equipment and faster schedules. By 1946, the Milwaukee had decided to re-equip the Olympian as a streamliner, adding it to its famed fleet of Hiawatha passenger trains. The new Olympian Hiawatha entered service on June 29, 1947, running on a significantly faster schedule with fewer stops. Simultaneously, the Columbian was resurrected to again provide secondary service on the entire Chicago - Tacoma route. The revived Columbian used the equipment and schedule of the pre-1947 Olympian.