Timetables
Here is a collection of timetable covers. Timetables
are interesting historical documents, and as time goes on we'll post examples
of their content. They provide a fascinating window on how railroads present
themselves to the public as well as the last years of US and Canadian
private railroading, Amtrak throughout much of its history, and the privatization
of the British railway system. Look at some of those from the late 1960s,
such as the Southern Pacific 1969, and Penn Central East-West 1970, and
you can see, well before Amtrak's arrival in 1971, that, as dull or cheap
timetables show, once great passenger carriers were giving up the ghost.
You can also see a couple of US railroads, the Southern and Rio Grande,
that tried to keep service alive post Amtrak. Check back often because
we'll be adding more timetables as our file boxes empty and travels continue.
