Frisco put a very pretty painting on the cover of its timetables, but they used this illustration for more than 12 years, from at least 1953 through 1965. One reason to change covers is to alert passengers that schedules have changed so they don’t miss trains or count on trains that no longer run.

Click image to download a 20.3-MB PDF of this timetable contributed by Ellery Goode.

Changes were significant. This timetable is 36 pages long and describes nine named trains and several unnamed ones. The 1965 timetable is only 20 pages and has just two named trains and one mixed train. The schedules for all three trains could have fit on just one page.

The pretty cover on the 1965 timetable was deceptive as Fresco’s passenger network was only a shadow of its former self. The 1965 routes formed an X: Kansas City southeast to Birmingham and St. Louis southwest to Tulsa with the routes crossing in Springfield, Missouri. Trains from 1956 to Wichita and Dallas were gone by 1965 as were north-south routes between Kansas City and Tulsa and between St. Louis and Memphis.

In 1956, Frisco trains went south 261 miles from Kansas City to Tulsa, taking eight hours. In 1965, passengers had to change at Springfield, making the route 387 miles long and requiring 11 hours. In 1956, passengers could take trains 305 miles south from St. Louis to Memphis in eight hours. In 1965, the route via Springfield was 522 miles and took more than 21 hours. I suspect not many took that route.