Annoyingly, the inside front cover of this timetable says that the Eagles are the “smoothest way West-Southwest.” As I complained a few days ago, except for its line to Pueblo, Missouri Pacific didn’t serve the West or the Southwest, so I find this slogan puzzling.
Click image to download a 25.2-MB PDF of this 48-page timetable.
Breaking from the city series in the timetables shown here in the last few days, this one dedicates the page before the centerfold map to Louisiana. As we know from timetables shown here previously, later editions covered Nebraska, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and no doubt several states in editions I haven’t seen yet.
The page after the map brags that Missouri Pacific was planning to lay “64,285 tons of new rail” in 1952. The inside back cover has freight schedules and the back cover notes that a new freight station was opening in St. Louis. Previously, the back cover of the May 1950 timetable that is posted on Wx4 had announced this freight station was being built.
Few rail passengers today would be interested in knowing about the construction and opening of freight stations. In 1952, however, the railroads still carried lots of less-than-carload freight. Knowing where the freight station was would have been as important then as knowing how to ship by UPS or FedEx today.
This is the last of the Missouri Pacific timetables I am presenting at this time. MP apparently published three timetables in some years and four in others, so I don’t know exactly how many I am missing, but I estimate I need about a dozen more in the 1946-1957 period when the full, 48-page magazine-style format was published. I’ll try to add them soon.
In the meantime, below is a table showing some of the distinctive features of the 30 Eagle-painting timetables (including the Wx4 one) I’ve seen so far. Column FC indicates the colors on the front cover (yellow/red, yellow/black, red/black); IFC lists the subject of the ad on the inside front cover; BCF and ACF describe the articles before and after the centerfold map; and IBC and BC describe the inside and outside back covers.
Numbers in parentheses in the BCF column indicate the number in the “states served by Missouri Pacific” series and the “historic landmark” series illustrated by John Mullan Keil. The first in the latter series, the Alamo, isn’t actually numbered but it is part of the series.
Date | FC | IFC | BCF | ACF | IBC | BC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
47-04 | R/B | Sunshine Special | St. Louis | Denver | Fast Mail | Royal Gorge |
47-09 | R/B | Sunshine Special | San Antonio | Little Rock | New Orleans | Missouri Hist. Society |
47-12 | R/B | Sunshine Special | Wichita | Lower Rio Grande | Royal Gorge Bridge | West's First Railroad |
48-03 | R/B | Sunshine Special | Omaha | Dallas | Salt Lake City | Mexico |
48-05 | R/B | Texas Eagles | Wheat Belt | San Francisco | Royal Gorge | St. Louis Music |
48-08 | Y/B | Texas Eagles | Fort Worth | Los Angeles | Sunshine Special | Merchandise Service |
48-11 | Y/B | Texas Eagles | Rio Grande Valley | St. Joseph | Railroad Hour Radio | World Trade Route |
49-02 | Y/B | Texas Eagles | Austin | Galveston | Freight Schedules | Tip Top Mtn Project |
49-06 | Y/B | Texas Eagles | El Dorado | West's First Iron Horse | Freight Schedules | CTC |
50-05 | Y/R | Eagles | Kansas City | Mexico | Freight Schedules | New StL Ft Station |
51-03 | Y/B | Eagle Flock | Colorado (#3) | Speedboxes | Freight Schedules | More Power (Diesels) |
52-03 | Y/B | West-SW Eagles | Louisiana (#7) | New Rail | Freight Schedules | StL Ft Station Opens |
52-06 | Y/B | Eagles Dome | Nebraska (#8) | Diesel Shop in KC | Freight Schedules | MoPac Moves It Safely |
52-09 | Y/B | Dome Coaches | Oklahoma (#9) | Radio Network | Freight StL to California | Truck Operations |
53-01 | Y/B | Eagles | Mississippi (#10) | 1000 New Boxcars | Freight Schedules | New Type Tickets |
53-09 | Y/R | Eagles | Louisiana Purchase | Dinner in Diner | Freight Schedules | Fast Freight (Rabbit) |
53-12 | Y/B | Eagles Coaches | Iron Mountain | New MP High Line | Freight Schedules | Long Hauls or Short Hops (Kangaroo) |
54-04 | Y/R | Eagles Vacations | Alamo (#1) | Kansas for New Industry | Freight Schedules | On the Right Track (Bloodhound) |
54-12 | Y/R | Eagle Dome Coaches | Battle of NO (#3) | Missouri Industrial Diversity | Freight Schedules | Economy Meal Service |
55-04 | Y/B | Eagles Vacations | Pony Express (#4) | Nebraska Lower-Cost Industry | Freight Schedules | LCL Shipping |
55-12 | Y/B | Eagles Coaches | Land of Evangeline (#6) | Southern Illinois | Freight Schedules | Chicago-Texas Thru Cars |
56-04 | Y/R | Chicago-Texas | Battle of San Jacinto (#7) | Arkansas State Capitol | Freight Schedules | Merchanidse Service |
56-09 | Y/B | Eagles No Extra Fare | Old St.L. Cthouse (#8) | Colorado State Capitol | Freight Schedules | New Containers |
56-12 | Y/R | Cheaper Than Driving | Coronado (#9) | Illinois State Capitol | Freight Schedules | Truck-Rail Service |
57-06 | Y/B | Don't Drive Until Arrive | Hot Springs (#10) | Kansas State Capitol | Freight Schedules | Modern Pace |
57-12 | Y/B | Fun & Fancy Freedom | None | None | Freight Schedules | The Wheels Don't Go (Containers) |
58-12 | Y/B | Coach Tray Service | None | None | Freight Schedules | Piggy Back |
59-06 | Y/R | Thrift-T-Sleeper | None | None | Freight Schedules | Door to Door Delivery |
59-12 | Y/B | Sleep Thrifty | None | None | Freight Schedules | Slumbercoach |
60-12 | Y/B | Sleepers Are Cheaper | None | None | Freight Schedules | Ride Relaxed |