I am mainly interested in passenger trains, so I have very few employee timetables in my collection since they aren’t something that passengers would normally encounter. However, Streamliner Memories reader Chris Taylor contributed this one, and I’m grateful to him for allowing me to present it here.

Click image to download a 15.7-MB PDF of this timetable.

Looking it over, I can see why people find employee timetables fascinating. For example, page 5 has a list of speed restrictions throughout the railroad. The main line had a top speed limit of 65 mph for passenger trains but only 40 for passenger trains pulled by freight locomotives and fast freight trains, and 30 for slow freight trains. Page 11 has weight limits and the largest classes of locomotives allowed on various portions of track. Page 13 describes, for areas that have more than one track, what each track was to be used for: eastward or westward, low speed or high speed.

The timetables themselves begin on page 16 and list several first-class trains and some second-class trains. Though listed only by number, most of the first-class trains are passenger trains and include #5 (Capital Limited), #7 (Shenandoah), #9 (Chicago Express), #17 (Cleveland Night Express), #19 (Ambassador), #21 (Washingtonian), and #25 (Columbian).

The employee timetables list many landmarks that aren’t on the public timetables (because they aren’t station stops), including the length of any passing sidings. Maps in the back show the locations of coaling and water stations, turntables, and wyes, all information useful to engine crews.