The Burlington was quite the hopping railroad in 1939. The back cover of this timetable advertises the “fast, new” Exposition Flyer, which was operated “on a schedule planned to give a panorama of western scenery by daylight.” Inside the covers are four pages of ads that, for some reason, aren’t included in the timetable’s page numbering system.

Click image to download a 27.4-MB PDF of this 44-page timetable.

The “new General Pershing Zephyr” is promoted on the third page of the timetable. It went from St. Louis to Kansas City to Lincoln, where it connected with the Exposition Flyer. The fourth page of the timetable advises that passengers on the Denver Zephyr saved “2 extra days of vacation time” by taking the fast train. Instead of an ad, the inside front cover was wasted on a list of Burlington agents.

The third page from the back cover encourages people to visit “3 great national parks on 1 economy ticket” by taking the Burlington to Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Glacier parks. The fourth page from the back has two ads, one for Burlington escorted tours and the other for the Buffalo Bill, Burlington’s train from Denver to Cody (and Yellowstone). The inside back cover is an ad for Burlington’s fast freight service.

There are only a few other ads in the timetable. The page numbered 23 reminded travelers that 1939 was the year of two world’s fairs, one in San Francisco and one in New York. Page 24 noted that the Pioneer Zephyr was operating between Lincoln and Kansas City. Page 26 listed rodeos planned that summer in “the real west” and page 30 had a small ad for Burlington Trailways, “a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Burlington Railroad.”