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 →

NC&StL June 1957 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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Here’s a 1957 timetable from the railroad that started the Dixie Flyer, the train described in yesterday’s post. By 1957, that train was still operating, but it consisted solely of coaches — no food service cars — which must not have been too comfortable for a train that took more than 40 hours to get from one end to the other (Chicago to Miami).

Click image to download a 4.6-MB PDF of this 8-page timetable.

The main train on the route in the 1950s was the streamlined Dixieland, which had sleeping cars, coaches, a diner, and an observation-lounge car. This train took only about 24 hours to get to Jacksonville and another 7-1/2 hours to get to Miami. Continue reading →

Dixie Flyer Supper and Lunch Menu

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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Wikipedia says that “supper” usually refers to the “main evening meal” or a “light snack or meal in the evening” while lunch is “eaten around the middle of the day.” So what time of was this menu, which says “supper” on the main menu but “luncheon” on the insert, offered to passengers?

Click image to download a 970-KB PDF of this menu.

This is not an accidental mix-up of two menus, as the insert is glued onto the main menu. Nor is the insert a table d’hôte menu while the main menu is a la carte; in fact, both are a la carte. The insert is labeled “special today” even though many of the items on it are also on the main menu, usually for the same price. Continue reading →

KCS January 1953 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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Last year, I presented a 1956 Kansas City Southern timetable that was a fold-out brochure with the equivalent of eight pages. This one from three years before is a more standard booklet-style timetable but still only eight pages, glued not stapled. It does have a much prettier cover.

Click image to download a 4.1-MB PDF of this 8-page timetable.

The railroad’s mainline from Kansas City to Shreveport, Louisiana had three trains a day. Two of them, the Southern Belle (train 1 & 2) and the unnamed train 9 & 10, went beyond Shreveport to New Orleans. A third train, the Flying Crow (train 15 & 16), went from Kansas City only as far as Shreveport. The northbound Flying Crow connected at Texarkana with the Missouri Pacific, sending a sleeping car from Shreveport to St. Louis while the southbound St. Louis-Shreveport connection was made at Hope, Arkansas. Continue reading →

Monon April 1953 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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Although yesterday’s timetable was eight pages long, the schedules themselves all fit onto just two pages. So it is not surprising that, by 1953, Monon cut its timetable to the equivalent of four pages.

Click image to download a 1.5-MB PDF of this 8-page timetable.

It did so despite adding a new train since 1951, the Varsity, which connected Chicago with Bloomington. It was clearly aimed at students returning home for the weekends as the Chicago-to-Bloomington train operated only on Sundays and Bloomington-to-Chicago operated only on Fridays. The timetable notes that the last trip of this train would be on May 31, though whether that was permanent or just until school started again in the fall is unclear. Continue reading →

Monon April 1951 Timetable

Posted on by June 16, 2024
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The Monon — also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad — was a small railroad but it offered three passenger trains a day in 1951. The Hoosier and the Tippecanoe went between Chicago and Indianapolis while the Thoroughbred made a longer trip between Chicago and Louisville.

Click image to download a 3.1-MB PDF of this 8-page timetable.

The Hoosier had a diner and an observation-lounge-parlor car. The Thoroughbred had an observation-dining-parlor car. The Tippecanoe only had a grill-parlor car. Continue reading →