shawmat
Member
If you are interested in US and Canadian railway timetables from the 1850s to the present, you can now find a huge trove on Timetable World.
It has taken a while to establish links with US collectors, and to process the material that was offered. But it has been worth the wait. Here are some of the highlights:
The grid style is designed for speedy online exploration. It is fast, even when bandwidth is restricted, because only small parts of the whole image are delivered to your device as needed. Around 25% of users browse Timetable World on touchscreen hand-held devices, a share that is likely to grow. The PDF format, although familiar, cannot match the performance.
Timetable World is a collaborative project. You can sign up online to undertake an timetable indexing job. If you have timetables to share, and particularly if you can do some scanning, please use the email address on the website.
The image is the first two pages of the Official Guide first edition.
It has taken a while to establish links with US collectors, and to process the material that was offered. But it has been worth the wait. Here are some of the highlights:
- Amtrak: Now in its 50th year, you will find every summer and winter national timetable since the national US carrier was formed in 1971. Timetables for each decade are grouped together to facilitate easy comparison
- VIA: The Canadian national carrier, formed in 1976. Again, every timetable, grouped by decade.
- Official Guides: The monthly Guide commenced publication in 1868 shortly after the Civil War ended, and just before the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. Timetable World now has a collection of over 70 editions spread over the century 1869 -1969, the most comprehensive set available anywhere online. The Guide is a fascinating book, quite complicated to navigate, but there is an introductory article on the Timetable World front page to explain it. Only a few Guides have been indexed so far, so we recommend starting your exploration with the October 1923 edition which does have bookmarks.
- Canadian railways: CP, CN and Grand Trunk. Although they are represented in the Guide, these major companies published their own timetables too.
- Railway maps: There are 120 historical maps, many of them colourful, that are in addition to the black-only maps embedded in the Official Guides. Some are regional maps of states and provinces, often published on behalf of the various railroad commissioners. Others are posters published by the railroad companies. And there are a few local maps, such as one that shows the extensive electrified networks around New York City in 1908.
The grid style is designed for speedy online exploration. It is fast, even when bandwidth is restricted, because only small parts of the whole image are delivered to your device as needed. Around 25% of users browse Timetable World on touchscreen hand-held devices, a share that is likely to grow. The PDF format, although familiar, cannot match the performance.
Timetable World is a collaborative project. You can sign up online to undertake an timetable indexing job. If you have timetables to share, and particularly if you can do some scanning, please use the email address on the website.
The image is the first two pages of the Official Guide first edition.
