This oddly off-center letterhead served four different trains: the Abraham Lincoln, Ann Rutledge, and Alton Limited, all of which connected Chicago with St. Louis; and the Gulf Coast Rebel, between St. Louis and Mobile. The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad which issued the letterhead was an amalgamation of three different railroads: the Gulf, Mobile & Northern, which connected Jackson, TN with Mobile, AL and had a branch to New Orleans; the larger but financially weaker Mobile and Ohio, which connected St. Louis and Mobile with a branch to Montgomery; and the Alton Railroad, which connected St. Louis with Chicago with a branch to Kansas City.
Click image to download a PDF of this letterhead.
In 1935, the GM&N began operating one of the first pre-war streamliners–and the first streamliner in the South–the Rebel, between New Orleans and Jackson, TN. When the GM&N acquired the M&O, the train was extended to St. Louis and a second streamliner, the Gulf Coast Rebel was added to serve the St. Louis-Mobile market. The Rebel was discontinued in 1954 while the Gulf Coast Rebel continued to operate until 1958, so this letterhead dates to some time in the intervening four years.