The Illinois Central and Mobile & Ohio railroads were both effectively created by an 1850 federal land grant law that aimed to build a rail line from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico. In the same way that Union Pacific … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Timetable
When Eisenhower became president, his brother Milton (then president of Penn State University) sent him a 15-page memo arguing that federal policies that discriminated against the railroads — policies devised when railroads were the only effective form of transportation — … Continue reading
This timetable is dated February 28, just two months after yesterdays, which was dated January 1. Most railroads issued timetables every three to six months, so this seems an unusually short period before a reissue. Click image to download a … Continue reading
In 1950, the Norfolk & Western had a little more than 2,100 miles of track, making it slightly smaller than the Nickel Plate, Wabash, and Erie railroads. Yet it took over the first two in 1964 and eventually its successor, … Continue reading
Although slightly smaller than the B&O, the C&O was more profitable, which is what allowed it to take financial control of the Baltimore railroad a few years after these timetables were issued. The C&O didn’t operate as many passenger trains, … Continue reading
Like the New York Central and Pennsylvania, B&O advertised a daily through sleeper to Los Angeles on the Super Chief. Unlike the Central and Pennsy, the B&O’s car started in Washington, making it the “only through Pullman service between Washington … Continue reading
Since its main lines connected Buffalo with Chicago and St. Louis, the Nickel Plate would seem to be a natural partner to the Lackawanna or Lehigh Valley, which connected Buffalo with New York (or, to be precise, Hoboken/Jersey City). This … Continue reading
With little more than half as many miles of track as the Erie, the Lehigh Valley nonetheless upstaged the mighty New York Central when it opened an impressive Greek revival train station in Buffalo in 1916. The Central’s own stations … Continue reading
As a westerner used to major corridors being historically served by two or, at most, three railroads, I find the New York-Chicago line-up of railroads to be somewhat bewildering. This corridor was dominated, of course, by the New York Central … Continue reading
The New York Central had eight trains a day between New York and Chicago, four between New York and St. Louis, and plenty of additional trains connecting Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh with each other and with New York … Continue reading