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Union Pacific July 1921 Timetable

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Train LoverApril 26, 2023

Like yesterday’s timetable, the cover shown below is the back cover. The front cover is an ad for “new booklets and folders” describing “vacation variety” in the “Union Pacific West.” Many of these booklets can be found elsewhere on Streamliner Memories.

Click image to download a 34.8-MB PDF of this timetable.

First listed was Colorado’s Mountain Playgrounds, of which I have a 1923 edition. Next was Rocky Mountain – Estes Park, which I don’t seem to have. Next was Yellowstone National Park, of which I have a 1920 edition. Next was Utah-Idaho Outings; I have one from 1938 but it is quite different from the one shown in this ad. Then was California Calls You; mine is from 1915 but it has the same cover shown in the ad. The last picture in the ad is for what appears to be a brochure for The Pacific Northwest and Alaska; I have a 1945 booklet of that title, but it is very different. Last to be mentioned, but not pictured, in the ad is Along the Union Pacific System; I have several of that title but the earliest is from 1932. Continue reading →

Union Pacific July 1920 Timetable

Posted on May 13, 2023 by Train LoverApril 27, 2023

The front cover (the image below is the back cover) of this 103-year-old timetable advertises “Three Trains Chicago to Denver” and “Two Trains St. Louis to Denver,” most of which can make the journey in “one sleep.” From Chicago, the Denver Special took 28-1/2 hours; the Colorado Special took 31 hours; and the Colorado Express required 33-1/4 hours (taking two nights and a day). From St. Louis (via the Wabash), the Pacific Coast Limited took 30-1/5 hours and the Denver Express took 34 hours (taking two nights and a day).

Click image to download a 28.2-MB PDF of this timetable.

The ad doesn’t say so, but Pacific Coast Limited went on from Denver to Cheyenne and Green River, Wyoming, where it merged with the similarly named Pacific Limited, which went from Chicago to San Francisco and Portland. The ad does say that all of these trains included dining and observation cars except the Pacific Coast Limited, which only had an observation car west of Kansas City. Continue reading →

The Land of Scott and Burns

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Train LoverApril 24, 2023

The territory covered by this booklet overlaps with yesterday’s, as the area identified as “Scott’s Country” on the map on page 11 includes Edinburgh and the Scottish lowlands. The area identified as “Burns Country” includes Glasgow and the highlands.

Click image to download a 4.4-MB PDF of this 12-page booklet.

The cover painting depicts Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford House, which is about 35 miles southeast of Edinburgh. The painting appears to have been based on a photograph on page 7 of the booklet. Though it is unsigned, it is clearly the same artist as the one who painted the cover of yesterday’s booklet, which means, I suspect, Charles Oppenheimer.

Edinburgh and the Lowlands

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Train LoverApril 24, 2023

This British Railways booklet is in the same series as yesterday’s, and like yesterday’s is dated 1950. It covers the Scottish lowlands, which is basically Scotland south of Edinburgh. The cover says “Edinburgh,” but most of the booklet is about rural areas, smaller cities such as Peebles, and the ruins of abbeys such as Melrose and Kelso that were destroyed by order of King Henry VIII.

Click image to download a 4.0-MB PDF of this 12-page booklet.

The painting of Edinburgh Castle on the cover (which, like yesterday’s, is the back cover) is not signed, but after reviewing more than 400 British railway posters shown on an art blog, I suspect it was by Charles Oppenheimer (1875-1961), whose landscape paintings, including this British Railways poster as well as a painting of Edinburgh Castle, are similar in style to this booklet’s cover. Born in Manchester, Oppenheimer studied at the Manchester School of Art. He then moved to Kirkcudbright, Scotland, which is just beyond the southwest corner of the map shown on page 11 of this booklet.

Western Hills and Moorlands

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Train LoverApril 24, 2023

In 1950, just two years after taking over most of Britain’s private railways, British Railways issued a series of booklets encouraging people to ride trains to vacation spots in Britain. This one is for hills and moorlands west of London, including the Costwolds, Malverns, Mendips, Quantocks, and Brendon Hills plus Exmoor and Dartmoor.

Click image to download a 4.5-MB PDF of this 12-page booklet.

The watercolor painting on the cover (which is the back cover) is by Jack Merriott (1901-1968), who among other things did many posters for British Railways (scroll down to find the ones by Merriott). A native of London, Merriott was self-taught but became a famous-enough watercolorist that he was elected vice president of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, taught many younger watercolorists, and wrote several books about watercolor painting. Sadly, he died at the age of 67 from injuries sustained in an auto accident.

Skaguay to Dawson in 1906

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Train LoverMarch 29, 2023

The White Pass and Yukon was in its seventh year of operation when it put out this booklet describing its rail route from Skaguay (an older spelling) to White Horse by rail and White Horse to Dawson City by steamboat. This booklet is available from archive.org as either a PDF or the original scans. I cleaned up the scans a little bit and made a new PDF, but at 14.4 megabytes my version is quite a bit bigger than the 2.5-MB PDF on archive.

Click image to download a 14.4-MB PDF of this 16-page booklet.

I’m including it here because it is one of my favorite railroads that also happens to be one of the few passenger lines described on this web site that is still running. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be planning to run any steam excursions this summer, but it recently purchased some new Diesels to replace some of its older ones that it sold to the Durango & Silverton. Some of the new Diesels were delivered in a bold black, red, and white color scheme that, judging from on-line comments, is a bit controversial, but at least some of them are in the railroad’s traditional yellow and green.

Jasper Lodge 1964 Beverage Menu

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Train LoverMarch 29, 2023

This wine list and cocktail menu is decorated with two different images of Northwest Indian art. I’m not a Native American and I think the problem with cultural appropriation tends to be overblown, but I still cringe a little bit when I see Indian art out of place, the same way that I feel when I see Indians hundreds of miles from the Great Plains wearing plains war bonnets because that is how white tourists expected Native Americans to dress.

Click image to download a 909-KB PDF of this menu.

The art shown on this menu is from Northwest coastal Indians, who were hundreds of miles away from the Rocky Mountains where Jasper was located. The Blackfeet Indians, who were native to the Jasper area, had their own art, and it is too bad that Canadian National didn’t commission one of those natives to design the menu. But that may be a little nit picky; if you only had black and red to decorate a menu, Northwest Indian art would be an attractive way of doing so.

1964 Jasper Lodge Dinner Menu

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Train LoverMarch 29, 2023

Canadian National must have used dozens of different pictures on its Jasper Lodge menus over the years. This menu is from 1964 and shows an aerial view of the lodge, a photo that would have been difficult to take in the early years of the lodge.

Click image to download a 362-KB PDF of this menu.

The unpriced menu has a choice of nine entrées preceded by appetizer, soup, and salad accompanied by potatoes and vegetables, and followed by dessert and beverage, resulting in a five-course menu. The entrées include trout, chicken a la king, veal t-bone steak, roast baron of steer, a cold meat platter, and a couple of salads. Continue reading →

Jasper Rates in 1964

Posted on May 6, 2023 by Train LoverMarch 29, 2023

We’ve previously seen a 1959 booklet listing rates at Jasper. This one has the same photos on the outside and inside front covers and the same text on page 3. However, it adds several paragraphs of text advising people “what to wear” in Jasper.

Click image to download a 6.5-MB PDF of this 16-page booklet.

Room rates were slightly higher in 1964 than 1959. Rates for bus or motor car trips from Jasper to the Columbia Icefield, Lake Louise, and Banff were unchanged; rates to Calgary were slightly higher.

Through Your Picture Window in 1964

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Train LoverMarch 29, 2023

We’ve previously seen a 1958 version of this booklet. This one, from 1964, is smaller: 5-1/2″x7-1/2″ vs. 8-1/4″x10-1/4″ for the 1958 edition. This one is also 32 pages rather than 28, but unlike the 1958 booklet this one is bilingual: half the pages are in English and half in French.

Click image to download a 7.4-MB PDF of this booklet.

Fitting 28 pages of material into 16 smaller pages requires some sacrifice, and in this case CN elected to drop ten beautiful color photos while keeping intact around 2,700 words of text that probably was not as avidly scrutinized as the photos. If a picture is worth a thousand words, they lost 10,000 highly persuasive words in order to gain 2,700 French words. I would probably have kept the photos and published two separate booklets, one in English and one in French, but political pressures may have discouraged such “separate but equal” policies in 1964.