There were almost no changes between the May 1963 timetable shown here yesterday and this one (scans for which were provided by Bryan Howell). The May timetable included the Chicago-Galesburg segment of the westbound California Zephyr in the Chicago-Kansas City schedules, apparently for the benefit of those who wanted to connect with a train to Hannibal. This column disappeared in the November timetable.

Click image to download an 16.3-MB PDF of this 24-page timetable.

The only real substantive change I can see between the two timetables is still trivial. In May, train 15 between Chicago and Galesburg is listed as having coaches only. The November timetable announced that, on Fridays only, this train included a “buffet-lounge” with “refreshments and sandwich service.” This car was not listed on train 2, the eastbound counterpart to train 15. Perhaps it was included on the train but not opened for food service.

Almost nothing has changed since the November 1961 condensed timetable (which was presented here several years ago). Even the fares are the same; though the list of cities for which fares are shown differ slightly, the fares for those city pairs included on both timetables are identical.

Click image to download an 3.0-MB PDF of this timetable.

Fares were regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and railroads feeling the effects of inflation had to apply to have them increased. Coach fares in this timetable are exactly 10 percent higher than in the November 1960 timetable, which was shown here a few days ago, so there must have been a fare increase in 1961.

Since 1950, Burlington had been in the habit of issuing two system timetables per year, generally one dated May that usually went into effect near the end of April and one dated November that usually went into effect near the end of October. So this timetable, which says it went into effect on January 28, is an anomaly.

Click image to download an 14.3-MB PDF of this 24-page timetable.

One possibility is that one of Burlington’s partner railroads, such as GN, NP, D&RGW, WP, or CRI&P, changed the schedule of one of trains they shared. But I couldn’t find any differences in the schedules of these trains between the November 1961 timetable and this one. In fact, I could find few changes in any trains at all. Continue reading →

This timetable has two different schedules for the Afternoon Zephyr and North Coast Limited between Chicago and the Twin Cities. From June 1 through September 26, the two trains operated as in previous timetables. But before June 1 and after September 26, the times of the westbound Afternoon Zephyr are adjusted so that it can be combined with the westbound Empire Builder while the times of the eastbound North Coast Limited are adjusted so that it can be combined with the eastbound Empire Builder.

Click image to download an 16.3-MB PDF of this 24-page timetable.

This effectively reduced the Burlington’s Chicago-Twin Cities service to four trains a day. The Empire Builder didn’t change its schedule, but it did lose its observation car in the non-summer months. The Afternoon Zephyr needed its observation car, which was also its first-class parlor car. The North Coast Limited needed its observation car, which was also its beverage lounge. The Empire Builder‘s beverage lounge was underneath its full-length dome while its observation car offered just eight seats and no beverage service so it could lose that car with little loss of passenger comfort. Continue reading →

We’ve already seen Burlington’s November 1959 timetable, which followed yesterday’s, last November. That one didn’t make any major changes from the May 1959 edition.

Click image to download an 19.0-MB PDF of this 32-page timetable.

This one, however, does include some changes. The California Zephyr and Denver Zephyr, which each previously had their own page, are fitted together on one page in this timetable. The condensed Chicago-Denver and Chicago-Twin Cities schedules, which each had their own page, are also crammed into one page in this timetable. Continue reading →