With this timetable, New York Central reduced the 20th Century Limited‘s time from Chicago to New York to 15-1/2 hours, the fastest ever. The New York-to-Chicago time was 15-3/4 hours. The Chicago departure was moved from 3:30 to 4:00 pm, allowing the railroad to advertise that the train “leaves after business from Chicago” because 4:00 pm Standard time was 5:00 pm Daylight time, which was the time everyone but the railroads used. The railroad’s refusal to use Daylight time in its timetables must have confused many passengers, especially when in this case the Central used Daylight time in its advertising when it was convenient to do so.

Click image to download a 28.3-MB PDF of this 52-page timetable.

However, a phrase hidden in this ad hints at declining passenger patronage: “Step aboard” the 20th Century Limited, invites the ad, “at LaSalle Street Station any afternoon Sunday through Friday inclusive.” Saturday was excluded as with this timetable the Century became a six-day-a-week train. Elsewhere, the timetable notes that the train didn’t operate on major holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. When the Century did operate, the Commodore Vanderbilt ran 30 minutes before the Century, but on Saturdays and holidays the Vanderbilt operated on the Century‘s schedule.

Apparently, the businessmen who made up the bulk of the Century‘s clientele did not travel much on Saturday nights. But the Central still needed a 4:00 pm train in case someone thought the Century was still leaving at that time, so the Vanderbilt‘s time was shifted.

It would have been easier to run the Century seven days a week and cut the Vanderbilt to six days. After all, the two trains had virtually identical equipment. The Central’s decision to cut the Century was probably a matter of prestige, as it wouldn’t do for the public to see the “most famous train in the world” run half-empty on Saturday nights. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania continued to run the Broadway seven days a week.