This timetable makes a curious change in format. As mentioned yesterday, previous timetables had devoted page 6 to condensed schedules for the California Zephyr and the Kansas City-Billings train. In all, the earlier timetables had 6-1/2 pages of condensed schedules, with the remaining half page used for an ad.

Click image to download a 21.5-MB PDF of this 36-page timetable.

Today’s timetable rearranges the condensed schedules so that the Kansas City-Billings train is on page 9. This moves the other schedules around, losing the half-page ad. That left all of page 6 for the California Zephyr condensed schedule, which allowed for larger type but also a lot of white space on that page.

As I mentioned yesterday, the previous timetables did passengers a disservice by encouraging people who wanted to take the Royal Gorge to take the Coloradan from Chicago even though two other trains were faster and, arguably, more comfortable. The Coloradan is still on this condensed schedule but only as an eastbound connection with Rio Grande’s Prospector. Instead, the Denver Zephyr is shown as the best connection with the Royal Gorge, which it was. This change could have been made without devoting an entire page to the California Zephyr‘s condensed schedule, so something else probably motivated that change.

Beyond this there is a minor change in the format of the condensed schedules. In previous timetables, the names of each train or route were printed in white on a grey background. Starting with this one, they are printed in black on a white background. This looks a little less prestigious but the black-on-white probably is easier to read.