Illinois Central December 1957 Timetable

Posted on by July 3, 2024
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The all-Pullman Panama Limited, Illinois Central’s premiere train, took 16-1/2 hours between Chicago and New Orleans for an average speed of nearly 56 miles per hour. It probably could have been a little faster if it didn’t have cars added and taken off from it at various points along the way.

Click image to download a 16.8-MB PDF of this timetable.

Two cars from St. Louis were added to the southbound train at Carbondale. At Memphis a car was added while a car from Chicago was taken off the train at Jackson, Mississippi. Since the train had an observation car, the cars couldn’t just be added or taken off the rear of the train so all of these required multiple switching moves and probably added close to 30 minutes to the train’s schedule. Continue reading →

Paul Proehl Posters for Illinois Central

Posted on by September 27, 2024
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Paul Proehl, who did the cover art for yesterday’s 1931 booklet about Chicago and a 1926 booklet about the Mississippi Gulf Coast, also did a number of posters for the Illinois Central. Not coincidentally, all of the posters I’ve found are about Chicago or the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Click image for a larger view. Click here to download a 6.9-MB PDF of all of the posters shown in this post.

In 1910, Proehl (1887-1965) earned a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois. While working as a draftsman for Chicago architecture firms, he became interested in commercial art and attended the Art Institute to learn more about it. In 1918, he began working in the advertising business and in 1924 he was hired by Palenske-Young, a Chicago illustration studio. Continue reading →

Chicago: The Vacation City

Posted on by July 3, 2024
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In these post-COVID years I rarely think of a big city as a place to take a vacation. But I remember visiting Chicago many times in the past and going to places like the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute, and lunch at Marshall Fields. I can imagine that, just as a visit to New Orleans would be exotic for Midwesterners, a visit to Chicago would be a thrill for people from Birmingham, Memphis, Sioux City, and other places served by Illinois Central lines.

Click image to download a 20.9-MB PDF of this 52-page booklet.

Although this 1931 booklet is almost a century old, it is striking how much of Chicago then remains today. The booklet includes numerous photographs of museums, parks, skyscrapers, and universities, most of which look about the same today as hey did then. Of course, there are more and bigger skyscrapers today, but the biggest change from the photos shown in the booklet is the demolition of the Illinois Central train station. Continue reading →

To Florida via the Seminole Limited

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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With a pink flamingo on the back representing Florida and a Native American on the front representing the Seminoles (and therefore the train), this booklet describes Illinois Central’s entry into the competition for Midwest-Florida traffic in the early 1920s. IC was the original carrier of the Dixie Flyer from Chicago, but in 1908 Louisville & Nashville switched to the Chicago & Eastern Illinois. In response, IC inaugurated the Seminole Limited in 1909 and put it on a schedule that was three hours faster than the Flyer.

Click image to download a 13.1-MB PDF of this 36-page booklet.

The competition quickly caught up, which would have been easy as their routes were almost exactly the same length: 1,128 miles via the Illinois Central vs. 1,130 miles on the Dixie Flyer. The Seminole left Chicago at 8:15 pm and arrived in Jacksonville at 7:45 am two mornings later, while the Dixie Flyer left Chicago 50 minutes after the Seminole but arrived in Jacksonville just 40 minutes after. On the return trip the Dixie Flyer left Jacksonville an hour before the Seminole and arrived in Chicago an hour before. Continue reading →

Atlantic Coast Line June 1957 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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In 1957, the Atlantic Coast Line operated four trains a day between New York (via the PRR to Washington and RF&P to Richmond) and Florida, a fifth train that went as far as Savannah, Georgia, and a sixth train that operated only on the weekends. It also participated in three daily trains between Chicago and Florida plus three more streamlined trains that each operated every third day. It also had, with L&N, a train from Cincinnati to Florida and partnered with PRR and other railroads to run trains from New York to Atlanta, Norfolk, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Click image to download a 20.6-MB PDF of this 36-page timetable.

Since before the war, ACL’s premiere train was the streamlined Champion, which was really three trains in 1957. The East Coast Champion left New York at 2:25 pm and arrived in Miami at 3:40 pm the next day while the West Coast Champion left New York at 3:40 pm and arrived in Tampa at 2:40 pm, Sarasota at 4:25 pm, and St. Petersburg at 4:20 pm. The third train, the Advance East Coast Champion left New York on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 am, arriving Miami at 11:45 the next day, while its northbound counterpart, the Weekend Champion, left Miami for New York on Fridays and Saturdays. Continue reading →

L&N September 1958 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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In the five years since yesterday’s edition, L&N’s timetable lost another 16 pages. The station index had been cut from two pages to one, rail fares were cut from two pages to one-and-a-half, four pages of connecting trains were eliminated completely, and where yesterday’s timetable included 19 schedules, this one includes just seven, meaning a lot of local trains had disappeared.

Click image to download a 9.9-MB PDF of this 20-page timetable.

The 1946 timetable had four “Dixie” Chicago-Florida trains: Dixieland, Dixie Flyer, Dixie Flagler, and Dixie Limited. By 1949 the Dixieland was gone and by 1953 the Dixie Limited had also disappeared. The only Dixie left on today’s timetable is the Dixie Flyer, which in 1946 was a coach-only train. In 1958 it had sleeping cars but no food services. Continue reading →

L&N April 1953 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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New streamlined sleeping cars were added to the Pan-American, Humming Bird, Georgian, and Gulf Wind, brags the advertisement on this timetable’s front cover (the back cover being the one shown below). The Pullman-built cars included bedrooms, roomettes, and sections.

Click image to download a 18.8-MB PDF of this 36-page timetable.

This timetable is four pages shorter than yesterday’s. Two pages were saved by condensing some of the condensed timetables a little more. Two other pages were saved by eliminating some minor trains. Yesterday’s timetable had schedules continuously numbered from 1 to 31. Today’s is missing tables 12, 14, and 22 through 31, most of which were mixed trains.

L&N September 1949 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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Yesterday’s post mentioned that the Chicago-Florida South Wind, Dixie Flagler, Georgian, and the Humming Bird were all-coach trains in 1946. The front cover of this timetable (the cover below being the back) advertises that sleeping cars were added to these trains in 1949. The first two trains also gained new observation-lounge cars for the use of sleeping car passengers.

Click image to download a 21.8-MB PDF of this 40-page timetable.

Yesterday’s timetable included a schedule for unnamed trains between New Orleans and Jacksonville. These were actually just through cars on the Crescent and Azalean that were taken off those trains at Flomaton and transferred to other trains and later transferred to a third train at Chattahoochee. Continue reading →

Louisville & Nashville December 1946 Timetable

Posted on by November 8, 2024
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As far as long-distance passengers go, the Louisville & Nashville was primarily a bridge railroad, carrying trains over a part of their journey that also went on several other railroads. Between New York and New Orleans, for example, L&N covered the Montgomery-New Orleans segment of the Crescent and Piedmont.

Click image to download a 21.4-MB PDF of this 40-page timetable.

Between Chicago and Florida, L&N carried trains on portions of several routes. The Southland and Flamingo went over the L&N between Cincinnati and Atlanta. The South Wind and Florida Arrow went over the L&N between Louisville and Montgomery. Four Dixie trains — the Dixieland, Dixie Limited, Dixie Flyer, and Dixie Flagler — used L&N’s route between Evansville and Nashville. Continue reading →

Between the North and New Orleans

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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The premise of this brochure is that the Louisville & Nashville route from the Midwest to New Orleans is the most scenic route because it follows “the beautiful Gulf Coast.” The alternative would have been to follow the Mississippi River via Memphis and Jackson on an Illinois Central train.

Click image to download a 7.0-MB PDF of this brochure from the David Rumsey collection.

L&N’s argument was weakened by the fact that its premiere train, the Pan-American, followed the Gulf Coast portion of its route at night. The secondary train, the Azalea, went during daylight, but the only portion of the Gulf Coast it followed was from Mobile to New Orleans, a trip of under four hours. Continue reading →