“When Old Man Weather gives you the cold shoulder, there’s only one thing to do,” says the advertisement on the front cover of this timetable: “hie yourself off to Southern Arizona or California, where Nature has done such a noble job in providing year ’round, pleasure-loving ‘spas.'” The “hie” is in reference to the accompanying illustration, which shows cowboy- and cowgirl-dudes and their horses. According to the Oxford Dictionary, however, “hie” has its origins in Old English, not the Old West.

Click image to download an 20.9-MB PDF of this 36-page timetable.

The ad notes that the Golden State offered, among other luxuries, “Complimentary hors d’oeuvres for Pullman passengers.” Passengers from the east could take a through sleeper from St. Louis or a through sleeper or through day-night coach from the Twin Cities, which cars would be “entrained” into the Chicago-originated Golden State in Kansas City.

The Golden State was Rock Island’s train 3 & 4, while the more prestigious #1 & 2 were used for an otherwise unnamed Chicago-Des Moines coach-only (meaning no dining or lounge cars) train. The Golden State was relegated to 3 & 4 to be consistent with partner Southern Pacific, which reserved 1 & 2 for the Sunset Limited. However, that doesn’t explain why Rock Island didn’t use 1 & 2 for a more important train such as the Rocky Mountain Rocket (which was 7 & 8).