Rio Grande ran only five trains in 1960 yet printed a 20-page timetable. The Moffat Tunnel Route, featuring the California Zephyr and Prospector, could have fit on one page but took two. The Royal Gorge Route, featuring the Royal Gorge and Colorado Eagle, could also have fit on one page but took two. Half of a third page would have been enough for the Yampa Valley Mail.

Click image to download a 13.1-MB PDF of this 20-page timetable.

The inside front cover is devoted to a welcome letter from H.F. Eno, Rio Grande’s passenger traffic manager. As if that is not enough welcome, the inside back cover is devoted to a welcome letter from R. Knox Bradford, Rio Grande’s vice president. Pages 16 and 17 have black-and-white photos of Rio Grande freight and passenger operations. That’s four pages that could have been deleted with no loss if information transmitted to the public.

Pages 5 and 6 are condensed timetables, but Rio Grande timetables are so brief they really need no condensation. Page 13 is a list of Rio Grande branch lines with freight service only. The back cover is a beautiful color photo of a freight train that has just emerged from the Moffat Tunnel. As nice as the photo is, that’s four more pages that could have been deleted with no impact on passengers.

Why did railroads print timetables with so much fluff? Unlike Missouri Pacific timetables, most of this extraneous stuff isn’t even that entertaining. Someone at the Rio Grande must have agreed with me because in just a few months its 1961 timetable would be reduced to a six-panel brochure, effectively cutting 70 percent out of today’s timetable without cutting a single train.

One thing worth noting is that Rio Grande’s Prospector left Salt Lake City at 6:00 am while the California Zephyr didn’t arrive until 8:55 am. They must have met somewhere around Thistle, Utah. Did anyone ever get a photo of that meet? There was no meeting in the other direction because the Prospector arrived in Denver before the Cal Zephyr left.