Airships would be soooo much faster than LD trains ....
Hindenburg - HISTORY
Not quite. Maximum speed was 85 mph, cruising speed was 78 mph. But, yeah, you never had to sit in sidings for freight trains.
On the other hand, if the crew saw a thunderstorm, they took all necessary action to fly around it, keeping as much distance as possible from the storm, seeing that zeppelins (especially zeppelins filled with hydrogen) and thunder, lightning, and thermal updrafts don't mix very well. (
See USS Shenandoah for the sad tale.) This meant that schedules were more aspirational than actual.
Hindenburg Flight Operations and Procedures | Airships.net
Normal cruising altitude was 200 meters (650 ft) but would fly slower to stay below the clouds.
The operating crew consisted of 39 officers and men -- these things were more like operating an oceangoing ship, not an airplane. Even with modern automated systems, I would expect a larger crew on an airship than on an airliner.
Hindenburg Flight Schedule | Airships.net
The trip between Frankfurt and Lakehurst could take between 48 and 78 hours. I guess it depended whether you had a tailwind or not. The trips between Frankfurt and Rio De Janeiro took 80 - 110 hours.
I wonder if they packed the German version of Amstew for the times when the airship was running late.
Was there train service between Lakehurst and New York?