In 1954, Wall Street raider Patrick McGinnis took over the New Haven in a proxy fight. His brilliant plan was to save money by deferring maintenance and boost revenues by spending money (some of which went to his wife, an artist, whose main contribution was to select another artist) on a new corporate identity. He went to prison after being indicted for shady deals in 1961, the same year the New Haven went bankrupt, but in the meantime travelers were treated to this new logo.

Click image to download a 29.8-MB PDF of this timetable contributed by Ellery Goode.

It is admittedly striking, but I prefer evocative logos such as mountain goats, beavers, maple leaves, and yin-yangs over alphabet logos such as the famous CN and Penn Central worms. Since New Haven’s previous logo was an alphabet logo as well, the only real complaint in this case is how McGinnis wrecked the railroad.

This timetable is four pages longer than yesterday’s from 1954. I’m not going to try to find all of the differences, but there were probably a lot more summer trains to resorts in the Berkshires, Cape Cod, and similar vacation spots.