This morning I was inspired to pull out my box full old Amtrak timetables and put them in order. I suppose it's due to my recent writing about traveling by Amtrak and my experiences with Amtrak in general through the years.I wonder how much value my old Amtrak timetables might have. I also have many timetables from the days before Amtrak. The oldest timetable I have is one issued by The Pennsylvania Railroad timetable in 1937.
Here are my Amtrak timetables, from the earliest to the most recent:
July 12, 1971
January 16, 1972
April 29, 1973 (Agent's Edition)
May 16, 1974
May 16, 1975
November 30, 1975
October 31, 1976
October 1 to October 27, 1979 - special timetable effective for one month only pending Congressional and state approval of certain new trains and new routes
October 30, 1983 - April 23, 1984 (2 copies)
April 1, 1990 - October 27, 1990 (2 copies)
October 25, 1992 - April 3, 1983
Spring/Summer 1993 Northeast Timetable (3 copies - These timetables were not printed on glossy paper, perhaps to cut costs. Their cover designs are relatively dull. They are also the first timetables I have in which Amtrak's Northeast services are presented in a separate booklet from national system.)
Spring/Summer 1993 National Timetable - (2 copies - These booklets were printed on plain heavy paper too and did not include Northeast corridor trains. The timetables due out at the end of this month maybe the first issued since 1993 or earlier that include all Amtrak trains.)
Thanksgiving Holiday Timetable, November 23-29, 1993 (Northeast Corridor, Keystone Service, Empire Service. Black & white booklet.)
Fall/Winter 1993/1994 Northeast Timetable Revised Edition, February 14 - April 30, 1994
Spring/Summer 1994 National Timetable (2 Copies)
Spring/Summer 1994 Northeast Timetable (2 Copies)
Fall/Winter National Timetable 1995-1996
Fall/Winter Northeast Timetable 1995/1996
Spring/Summer National Timetable April - October 1996
Spring/Summer Northeast Timetable May 17, 1998
Fall/Winter 1999-2000 Northeast Timetable
Fall 1999/Winter 2000 National Timetable
Fall 2000 - Winter 2001 Timetable/Northeast Corridor
Fall 2000 - Winter 2001 Timetable/National Corridor
Amtrak National Timetable Spring/Summer 2003
Amtrak Northeast Timetable Spring/Summer 2003 (Will this be the last separate Northeast Timetable?)
Additional Amtrak Publications:
Amtrak's Guide to Riding The Adirondack - issued 9/1974 - in English and French, with illustrated map and timetable.
The Montrealer and The Adirondack Route Guide - issued 12/1975 - with descrriptions of highlights to be found at stops en route - also includes photos and fold-out map showing the routes of both trains.
Amtrak's America "Discover The Magic" 1993 - All Aboard Amtrak! - The On Board Experience - Amtrak's Great American Vacations - Traveling By Train - Travel Tips & Services
Ski Amtrak 1993 - 1994 - Best In The West (and now the East too!)
Individual Schedule Cards - Spring/Summer 1994 - Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf, Adirtondack, Montrealer, Crescent, Pennsylvanian, Cardinal, Broadway Limited.
Amtrak Florida Service Timetable - Fall/Winter 1994/1995 - Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Sunset Limited, Auto Train, Cross Florida Bus/Train Service.
Subsequent Musings:
1971 - This is the second ever Amtrak timetable. It is divided sections including NYC based short haul trains; Philadelphia-Harrisburg trains; NYC based long haul trains; Washington based long haul trains; Washington and Norfolk to Cincinnati and Chicago; Chicago based short haul trains; Chicago based long haul trains to the west and south; New Orleans-Los Angeles; West Coast trains; and trains operated by other railroads.
Inside cover notes state that daily thru service between Boston, Springfield, and NYC via Worcestor was offered for the first time in more than 10 years under Section 403 of the Rail Passenger Act of 1970. Daily trains also were operated between Chicago and New York via Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Albany as a result of Section 403. A new 'experimental' service was introduced thrice-weekly between Minneapolis and Spokane via St. Cloud, Bismarck, Billings, Butte, and Missoula, and this train connected with the existing Empire Builder at both Minneapolis and Spokane, and both trains called at Fargo, interestingly enough. The notes point out that all intercity rail services were included in a single timetable. Perhaps this timetable represented a first.
A new thru Amtrak service was offered with no change of cars from Chicago to Miami and St. Petersburg via Indiananapolis and Louisville. One could take a train from Indianapolis in any one of five directions at the time - to Chicago; to Dayton, Pittsburgh, and New York; to Cincinnati, Charleston, and Washington; to Florida; and to Kansas City via St. Louis.
Amtrak reached an agreement with both Greyhound and Trailways Bus Lines, which will honor Amtrak tickets between any two cities served by both Amtrak and either of the bus lines.
Amtrak used both Central Station and Union Staion in Chicago when this timetable was issued.
The Texas Chief had a dome lounge and operated daily between Chicago, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Ft. Worth, and Houston, with a notation that the Ft. Worth-Houston segment was to be shifted from the Temple, TX route to the Dallas-Waxahachie route as soon as possible.
There was a Washington section of The Broadway Limited, and it operated from Washington Union Station via Baltimore, MD and Safe Harbor, MD to Pittsburgh, where it was combined with the New York section of the Broadway Limited. The Broadway was Train 49 at the time.
The Coast Starlight was thrice-weekly, but the Oakland-LA segment operated daily. There were two daily LA-San Diego trains and one that operated thrice-weekly on various days except Thursdays. One of the daily San Diego trains had a lounge car.
There were dome sleepers and dome coaches on the Empire Builder and the unamed 'experimental' train via Butte. There was a dome lounge on the un-named thrice weekly train 1-101 between Chicago, Cheyenne, Ogden and Oakland. Train No. 1, The Denver Zephyr, ran daily between Chicago and Denver, and it had slumbercoaches. Were these cars shifted to the Florida trains and some of the East Coast-Chicago trains later on?
The Southern Railways' Southern Crescent had a dome car between Atlanta and New Orleans, and a dome car on its trains No. 3 and 4 between Salisbury and Asheville.
The Georgia Railroad operated a daily service between Augusta GA to its own station in Atlanta, GA. The ride took 3 hours and 45 minutes.
The City of New Orleans had what was listed as a diner-counter-lounge.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Peoria had trains to both Peoria and Rock Island. The trains had coaches, club diners, and parlor cars.
The Super Chief/El Capitan had every amenity of a full service long distance train but there is no specific mention of a any sort of bi-level equipment or a dome car.
The NYC-Florida trains featured 'Tavern Cars' and a Bar-Lounge-Sleeper. Metroliners required from 3 hours flat to 3 hours and five minutes to make the Washington, DC-NY-Penn Station run, much the same as today.
Grand Central Terminal had Amtrak trains departing to Hartford and Springfield. Sometimes a change was required not in New Haven but in Hartford to reach Springfield. One of the trains left GCT at the very early hours of 4:40 AM. These days, GCT is locked from 1:30 AM to 5:30 AM to prevent the homeless from congregrating in the station overnight.
Amtrak also operated a weekday commuter service between New London and New Haven and v.v., much like CDOT's present Shoreline East service. The Amtrak New London-New Haven commuter train, however, ran just once in each direction in 1971.
Many sample fares were provided: Boston-Washington Coach $12.75, Parlor Car $19.37; NYC-Washington in coach $13.00, regular parlor car/drawing room $23.40 (with $3.15 for each additional person), Metroliner coach $17.00, Metroliner 'Metroclub' $27.40; New York-Miami coach $59.01, roomette $112.85; Chicago-Los Angeles coach $86.75, roomette $123.05; Los Angeles-San Francisco coach $16.00, roomette $25.00; Los Angeles-San Diego $4.75.
The January 1972 timetable was presented in an extensive 'quick reference' airline style format. Train connections between most major city combinations were provided. Detailed timetables in column format were also included in the back pages. This timetable has an ad for Amtrak on page 29 that says, "We've (Amtrak) Rejected 2 Out Of Every 3 Cars You Used To Ride on the Railroad" The ad continues to explain that, "there were 3000 passeneger cars in service when Amtrak took over last May (1971). We examined them all. We tested the ride and the brakes. Checked the doors, the seats, the lighting. Some of you know what kind of shape these cars were in because you used to ride them. So you won't be surprised that we decided only 1200 were good enough for the kind of service we want to give you in the future. Most of them are stainless steel. All of them are air conditioned."
The 1974 'All America' Timetable has a system of train type icons. The train icons denote whether a train was all-reserved and if it was a Metroliner; a Turboliner (Chicago-St. Louis), a Silverliner (Philadelphia-Harrisburg), or if it had equipment like a Dome Car (for the Empire Builder a Great Dome was specified), as well as icons meaning Diner, Club Car, Tray Food at your seat, a Snack Car, or a Baggage Car. Other symbols meant that express package service or 'economy' express package service, car rental agencies, and connecting bus were available. In this timetable all the footnotes were grouped together on two pages. There are many.
The overnight Montrealer/Washingtonian trains appear in this schedule, as does a TH&B connection between Buffalo, NY and Toronto. Along with The Night Owl, a thru Boston-Harrisburg Valley Forge service also is shown, plus an 'experimental' train between Washington and Cumberland, MD, and a brand new service from St. Louis to Laredo, TX/Nuevo Laredo, Mexico via Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Austin.
There also are Amtrak trains shown operating from Chicago to Dubuque, IA using an RDC, and another from Chicago to Quincy, IL using bi-level coaches.
The Texas Chief appears in this timetable as the Lone Star, and it still runs via Temple, TX and Brenham, TX into Houston, rather than through Waxahachie as earlier July, 1971 timetable promised. The one stop between Temple and Houston is listed as Belleville Yard.
The City of New Orleans is called The Panama Limited in this timetable. Why was the name changed?
A new route between Sandpoint, ID and Everett, WA via Wenatchee is shown. On the timetable's system map, trains appear to make 'side treks' into Madison, WI and Helena, MT. A closer look at the actual timetable shows service to these places is provided by bus connections from the closest train stops.
Dave
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