Interesting facts and notes in old railroad magazines

[Trollopian]

One of the interesting things in old railroad advertising is how they dealt with emergency situations. Some wartime print matter is mundane:
View attachment 35980
As you can see, my grandmother followed the government's instructions, which is why I have this timetable.

At the other end of the spectrum, artist and copy writer and the executive/s who approved the ad below produced something memorable. The ad below was widely reproduced, and a network radio broadcaster read it over the air.
View attachment 35981

"The Kid in Upper 4" is absolutely masterful. Thank you for posting it, Willbridge. Sure it's propaganda but propaganda is not a bad word. I'm preparing my Uncle Rudy's wartime letters for publication, and although I don't cry easily, I cried when he described slipping out of NYC harbor on a giant troopship, which I've identified as either the George Washington or General Gordon (traveling in convoy), seeing the skyscrapers recede into the distance. Some of the boys of the 100th Infantry ("Century") Division wouldn't see home again.

And like all propaganda it plays a little loose with facts. "Tomorrow they will be on the high seas." Um, not likely. The army assembled troops into enormous "staging camps" near each Port of Embarkation. (The two troopships in my uncle's convoy, for example, had capacities of 6,341 and 5,196 respectively. That's a whole lotta trainloads.) For a few days or even weeks, troops got their last vaccinations, sent the rest of their belongings home, were entertained by USO stars, and in my uncle's case went into NYC for the first time in his life. He was at Camp Kilmer in NJ, a small city. "More than 20 divisions with over 1,300,000 servicemen staged at Camp Kilmer before being deployed to Europe." Read about Camp Kilmer at https://www.archives.gov/nyc/exhibit/camp-kilmer.

 

[John Santos]

Speaking of old RR advertising, this timetable put out by Penn Central in 1969 for the MBTA had to have been written in a different era, I mean in 1969 who would be saying "madcap highway speedsters"? Probably New haven copy from the 1930s.
View attachment 35982

That's a little weird! I used to take the train from East Foxboro to Boston (Back Bay) occasionally when I was in high school in 1968-71 and commuted to work in the summer of 1973 from that "station" (which was just a bumpy gravel parking lot next to the tracks, no paved platforms) because it was less than 1.5 miles from my house. The next closest station was Sharon, a real station with platforms and a large paved parking lot, which was CLOSER to Boston, but the fare was 10 cents more! But Sharon was about four miles from home...

I also commuted in the summer of 1974, but the East Foxboro station had closed and the trains no longer stopped there. I had to use the Sharon Station instead.

 

[JamesWhitcombRiley]

During the 1950's and well into 1990's one could buy any major paper in the world as well as all major U.S. papers in Times Sq. The newsstand was at the east side of the square at 44th St or 45th St.

Yeah, I loved those places, but I was talking about same-day newspapers. If I'm remembering, some London morning papers came into New York on the few flights that had the right timing. I think some newspapers in the U.S. had same day delivery to rural areas by mail, and that the Wall Street Journal worked that way too. The LA Times and a few other papers distributed directly to DC, and in boxes on the sidewalk, at a low volume to be sure. Local journalists considered it a "vanity" edition, but I'd say it was more important than that.

Oakland CA had a 24-hour international newsstand, right where local buses transferred downtown. Sometimes I'd take the last bus in from SF and get caught up reading, miss my connection, and read for two more hours until the morning bus. Another time, daytime, I was impatiently trying to get a coin to go through a newspaper box in front of the Oakland Tribune Tower. The man who stopped to help me I'm now convinced was the publisher of the Trib, Robert C. Maynard.

(I don't know how USA Today worked when that came along. Skipping to a later period, after the NY Times had nationwide distribution, you could often buy it at a Starbucks even in a town that didn't otherwise have it anywhere near. And however fondly some of us remember delivering the paper, the circulation departments tended to have some problems, reflected later in adjusting to online schemes, not that it was as major a problem as losing ads. Another memory is that the newspaper presses were often the only industrial plant downtown.)

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Trains August 1948 is all about the Chicago Railroad Fair with a lot of maps and info about passenger stations.

 

[west point]

Remember father going down to local newsstand and getting Sunday NY Times after train from NY arrived. Plenty reading for a week. It was no lightweight.

 

[Willbridge]

Seems it was Eddie Cantor who read it on the radio, and someone else wrote a song from it. The poem was written by an ad-man named Nelson Metcalf, Jr. https://blogs.lib.uconn.edu/archive...vertising-campaign-of-the-new-haven-railroad/


The San Francisco Examiner, an afternoon paper, put out early editions downtown in the late 1980s, starting about noon. At 1pm the NY Stock Exchange closed and I was amazed on lunch break to see the paper appear in boxes with the Dow Jones index about twelve (?) minutes later. SF had the Pacific Stock Exchange, the only major public trading floor west of Chicago, as well as some other institutions representing all of the West Coast: the Federal Reserve Bank and Federal Circuit Court. At "the other end of the spectrum" as you say, the Xam was trying to shake off its stodgy image by publishing a column called "Media Critic" by Hunter S. Thompson, and another by some other 1960s luminary. Thompson was well past his prime and mainly mused on his girlfriend and argumentative life in Colorado. For all its institutional bona fides, the SF newspapers were great, by the higher standards of the time. The paper of record was the LA Times. It was influential enough, or ambitious enough, to distribute itself to boxes in Washington DC. At that time you could get a wider geographic variety of papers on the street in DC than in NY.

(Missouri is the only state with two Federal Reserve Banks, by the way.)

I first went to San Francisco in April 1960 with my dad (on SP11). Besides being on salary for the Seattle Times, he was the out-of-town news wholesale distributor in Portland. There were four daily papers in the City: the Chronicle and the Hearst flagship Examiner in the morning, the Scripps-Howard News and the Hearst Call-Bulletin in the afternoon. As an 8th grader, I thought Hearst was crazy, because their two papers were completely separate.

We had "same day" sales of the daily Chronicle and Examiner via the last Western Airlines flight in the evening. The "bulldog" Sundays came on Continental Trailways around midnight Saturday night. The Chronicle was the fourth-largest SF daily in the 1940's, but by the time I was old enough to be reading the papers it was out in front.

Other transport routes I recall:
Wall Street Journal, by air from Palo Alto.
Chicago Tribune and New York Herald-Tribune, on Union Pacific.
Seattle Times, dailies on NP408, Sundays on Greyhound, split between the 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. arrivals.
NY Times Western Edition, while it lasted, by air from L.A.
Los Angeles Daily Mirror, by Continental Trailways.

Trailways had a lower rate for newspaper than Greyhound.

 

[railiner]

I think some newspapers in the U.S. had same day delivery to rural areas by mail, and that the Wall Street Journal worked that way too. The LA Times and a few other papers distributed directly to DC, and in boxes on the sidewalk, at a low volume to be sure. Local journalists considered it a "vanity" edition, but I'd say it was more important than that.

For sure! The NY newspapers used to send their trucks right into the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC, and the driver would drop bundles of the paper right on the appropriate bus platforms. The bus got the papers to their destination's overnight. One in particular I recall, was the Edward's Lakes-To-Sea System, 12:30 AM all-stops local to Williamsport, and on to Cleveland. It made about a dozen stops just as far as Williamsport, taking 7 hours to do it, the driver dropping bundles at each stop, sometimes met by a route delivery truck. The PD-4107 left NY fully loaded.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Trains February 1949 page 46 has an interesting article on Palenstine (middle east and not the recent NS wreck.) in late WWII. I did not realize it was so extensive with the rail network in that area.

Trains July 1946 page 5.

TALGO AND TRAIN X
American Car & Foundry Company's experi-
mental Talgo Traint bears a striking similarity
to the Chesapeake & Ohio's Train X cars~^ ex-
hibited at the Chicago Railroad Fair last year.
Both are based on the same Spanish design.
A.C.F. is building two of the low-slung articu-
lated trains for use on the Spanish National
Railways besides the one being tested in the
United States. Train X is still on drawing boards;
cars shown are full-scale nonoperating model

--------------
I thought Talgo was Spanish. Did the Spanish company purchase the Talgo technology from ACF?

Trains May 1950 page 4. Ad for Southern's New Crescent. Train times from 1950 and present day are comparable between NYP and DC. Then modern day Crescent falls apart on the way south.

 

[Palmland]

And however fondly some of us remember delivering the paper, the circulation departments tended to have some problems

In college I made my train trip and beer money by selling and delivering the Richmond Times Dispatch. It was easy money - a subscription for students was $5/month and I got to keep $3. Don’t know how they made money, maybe it was loss leader for students to hook them on the paper.

It was a small college so maybe I had maybe 40-50 papers- but it was tough getting up in the morning and I hated Sundays with the fat paper and often a hangover. Towards the end I paid a portion to underclassmen to do deliveries. I still remember delivering the paper the day after Kennedy was shot- saw a lot more students grab it as I delivered. Trips financed included Washington to Ft Lauderdale, Mempjhis-Chicago-StLouis-Cincinnati-Nashville, and Nashville-Chicago-Denver.

 

[fdaley]

Trains May 1950 page 4. Ad for Southern's New Crescent. Train times from 1950 and present day are comparable between NYP and DC. Then modern day Crescent falls apart on the way south.

View attachment 36180

Interesting that the southbound schedule is pretty similar to today's, while the northbound schedule is a two-night run -- with afternoon departure from Atlanta to achieve 9 a.m. arrival into New York. Of course, the routing via Mobile and Montgomery is different too.

 

[Willbridge]

Trains July 1946 page 5.



--------------
I thought Talgo was Spanish. Did the Spanish company purchase the Talgo technology from ACF?

Si! And in March 1971 I rode from Madrid-Chamartin to Zaragoza on a Talgo. I went out of my way to ride it, because back then I knew I'd never see such a thing on my usual PDX<>SEA trips.

There were seven trains a day between Madrid and Zaragoza. Like most of RENFE in those days, service was a hodge-podge:

• 1 Talgo in 3:44 for 341 km non-stop
• 1 dmu in 4:04
• 1 reserved seat daylight in 5:37
• 1 all 2nd Class, no diner in 8:25
• 3 Madrid -- Barcelona night trains passed through in wee hours.

No route had more than one Talgo trip on it; they were stretched thin.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Trains May 1952. Article about 7 trips to take for a rail vacation. I am not sure if any of those can be done due to lack of passenger routes. In the case of the Roanoke-Knoxville-Spartanburg-Roanoke the tracks are there but no trains for a couple decades and likely soon to be a rails to trails. Article starts on page 60.

The more interesting article is about rail travel on a budget and the western US keeping rates to around 1.5 cent/mile. On the eastern side of the US the rate was more likely 2 cent/mile.

For a present day comparison, I priced a ticket from my home of Greensboro to NYP for a Monday-Friday trip in mid July. A few months out and not over the weekend so looking to cheaper rates-maybe.

The Crescent is 512 miles GRO to NYP and the Carolinian is 612 miles GRO to NYP. The Crescent was priced at $121 or 23 cent/mile. The Carolinian was $69 or 11 cent/mile using the 612 mile route of the Carolinian or 0.13 cent/mile using the 512 miles between the two cities over the more direct Crescent route.

Using an inflation calculator $1 in 1952 is worth $11.79 in 2024. This equates to 17.7 cents/mile now for 1.5 cent/mile in 1952 or 23.5 cent/mile today for 2 cent/mile in 1952.

About the same cost per mile against inflation for a coach ticket.

After I posted this I decided to do a coach ticket for the entire Crescent route and it was pushed down to around 13 cent/mile. Doing better than inflation.

Trains April 1953 pg 72. Letters to the editor. I don't usually copy and paste the entire article I post about but for a short letter in from a rather famous writer I feel the need to post it unedited.

No prefab meals, please!
I have always taken pleasure in riding
the Rock Island and in the past have fre-
quently arranged an early departure from
Chicago to catch the Rocky Mountain
Rocket. Your revolting article on the
Rock Island's diners in the February
T R A I N S & T R A V E L has effectively eliminated
any travel on that railroad for m e in the
future. I have never encountered worse
publicity for any railroad, and m y per-
sonal feeling is that the Rock Island has
a case against you that could cost you
your shirt. With improved food and serv-
ice the great and crying need in order to
restore pleasure and confidence in rail
travel, you advertise that this miserable
railroad has reduced its standard of table
fare to the institutionalized level of a
municipal lodging house.

The day w h e n any railroad attempts to
serve m e prefabricated slops on plastic
dishes complemented by paper table linen
will be the day I don't take the trains any
more. I think you have done the Rock
Island inestimable damage, but in the
end you were only reporting a sordid
fact in its management.
Lucius Beebe.
.lolin Piper's House. Virginia City. Nev.

 

[fdaley]

Trains April 1953 pg 72. Letters to the editor. I don't usually copy and paste the entire article I post about but for a short letter in from a rather famous writer I feel the need to post it unedited.

No prefab meals, please!
I have always taken pleasure in riding
the Rock Island and in the past have fre-
quently arranged an early departure from
Chicago to catch the Rocky Mountain
Rocket. Your revolting article on the
Rock Island's diners in the February
T R A I N S & T R A V E L has effectively eliminated
any travel on that railroad for m e in the
future. I have never encountered worse
publicity for any railroad, and m y per-
sonal feeling is that the Rock Island has
a case against you that could cost you
your shirt. With improved food and serv-
ice the great and crying need in order to
restore pleasure and confidence in rail
travel, you advertise that this miserable
railroad has reduced its standard of table
fare to the institutionalized level of a
municipal lodging house.

The day w h e n any railroad attempts to
serve m e prefabricated slops on plastic
dishes complemented by paper table linen
will be the day I don't take the trains any
more. I think you have done the Rock
Island inestimable damage, but in the
end you were only reporting a sordid
fact in its management.
Lucius Beebe.
.lolin Piper's House. Virginia City. Nev.

Just think what he would have to say about "flexible dining."

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Just think what he would have to say about "flexible dining."

That was my exact thought and why I posted this. I did not even notice the article Beebe was writing about but need to go back and find it.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Prefabricated slop on plastic dishes on paper tablecloths would actually be an upgrade for some flex dining meals

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Trains (Called Trains and Travel at this point in time.) March 1954. page 14. A short blurb
T.W.A. 's Ralph Damon says, "Before long we shall . . . consign to history the railroad sleeping car."
----------------
Folks from 23 years ago are still asking how is it going TWA?

 

[railiner]

Trains (Called Trains and Travel at this point in time.) March 1954. page 14. A short blurb
T.W.A. 's Ralph Damon says, "Before long we shall . . . consign to history the railroad sleeping car."
----------------
Folks from 23 years ago are still asking how is it going TWA?

Like this…

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Trains magazine February 1955 page 10.

More than 200 architects signed a nopen letter to Robert R. Young and Pat McGinnis in Architectural Forum, requesting them to save Grand Central's famed concourse in the event air rights over the terminal are sold. The concourse is "probably the finest big room in New York," they say, adding that "it belongs, in fact, to the nation." . . .
---------------------
I think their concerns were a bit misplaced by a few blocks.

June 1955 issue of Trains mention an organization. Federation for Railway Progress. FRP was mentioned in a NY Times article about disbanding in 1958. Seems there were set up in 1947 in opposition to the AAR. No wikipedia page about FRP and I had never heard of them before. Nor sure which railroads belonged but Northern Pacific and Union Pacific won awards from FRP in 1955.

 

[railiner]

Trains magazine February 1955 page 10.

More than 200 architects signed a nopen letter to Robert R. Young and Pat McGinnis in Architectural Forum, requesting them to save Grand Central's famed concourse in the event air rights over the terminal are sold. The concourse is "probably the finest big room in New York," they say, adding that "it belongs, in fact, to the nation." . . .
---------------------
I think their concerns were a bit misplaced by a few blocks.

I suppose you are referring to the fate of the original Pennsylvania Station, but Grand Central Terminal was also in peril both before and after the demolition of Penn Station. Its destruction raised such a concern and strong preservation movement that it saved GCT, later.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I suppose you are referring to the fate of the original Pennsylvania Station, but Grand Central Terminal was also in peril both before and after the demolition of Penn Station. Its destruction raised such a concern and strong preservation movement that it saved GCT, later.

True. I wonder what I will find in a few years. I clearly don't read every word of these magazines, but I do skim and sometimes fly past interesting notes and sometimes one word pops out and I pause. Hopefully I don't miss anything about NY Penn station a few years.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I suppose you are referring to the fate of the original Pennsylvania Station, but Grand Central Terminal was also in peril both before and after the demolition of Penn Station. Its destruction raised such a concern and strong preservation movement that it saved GCT, later.

Jackie Kennedy Onasis led the "Save Grand Central" Movement.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Trains January 1955 article on page 25. "Miss 2,000,000 Miles" is an article about the SAL's on board stewardess/nurse.

Can one imagine the budget fight to provide a nurse on every Amtrak train?

Trains, July 1956 page 10. How doe the times listed below compare to now?

Passenger progress
The parade of new railroad passenger
equipment and services into the summer
of 1955 was like old times:
'With the addition of its first domes
to the Empire Builder (eventually each
of the five streamliners will carry one
full-length and three coach domes) Great
Northern sliced its running time to the
coast. Unless the competition followed
suit, the comparison would be this: Chi
cago-Seattle 44 hours for the Empire;
44H hours for Milwaukee Road's Olym
pian Hiawatha: and 46r hours for North
ern Pacific's North Coast Limited.

 

[Palmland]

How doe the times listed below compare to now?

According to Amtrak schedules— 46hrs, 24min. Better than I thought. But I’ll still take the Olympian Hiawatha. However, since the tracks were gone long ago, according to Google you can walk it in 31 days!

I was surprised at the 11:29am arrival. When we rode it, arrival was 10:20am, exactly on time. But that was a few years ago and don’t remember departure time.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

According to Amtrak schedules— 46hrs, 24min. Better than I thought. But I’ll still take the Olympian Hiawatha. However, since the tracks were gone long ago, according to Google you can walk it in 31 days!

I was surprised at the 11:29am arrival. When we rode it, arrival was 10:20am, exactly on time. But that was a few years ago and don’t remember departure time.

I want to compare the cost of riding that in coach and a roomette versus the cost of walking with a tent to pitch but having to either shop for food or eat in restaurants. 93 meals would be some amount of money and I would need some warm food at times so need to deal with propane and grill and supplies to clean up as part of the cost. It could be a low carbon footprint, literally.

 

[west point]

Can one imagine the budget fight to provide a nurse on every Amtrak train?

Just for the east coast trains- == 17 or 18 train sets would be 34 - 36 nurses at $100k per nurse. So, ~~ $3.5M per year just for the east coast LD trains.