06-07-2010, 09:51 AM
I was recently asked this question by a friend of mine. I never really came up with a good answer because I was never asked this question before. But now, after considering "why I really collected timetables", I would like to share it with you.
Collecting timetables started for me while I was working for the railroad. I noticed an ad in our union newsletter from a person who was selling timetables. I was interested in seeing what "other" timetables looked like. Working for NYS&W at the time, it was required that we carried CR,D&H and NJT timetables because we operated on these roads too. So I wrote to this person, who I still chat with today, to send me a list. He sent me a list along with a "few freebies". I was hooked from there.
From collecting timetables, I have learned so much about the history of railroads. Even in the last 25 to 30 years, so much has changed in the railroad world. Mergers, downsizing, spinoffs etc...has changed the landscape. Think about it..we no longer have CR, ATSF, or BN. These "flags" were steadfast in the 90's but are now gone. How long before the next one falls or is absorbed into a merger? Many people turn to pictures or slides to remember "the good old days". I have learned that "the good old days" can also be found in a timetable. How?
A timetable is packed with information about the railroad. It lists all tracks, sidings, mainlines, stations, detectors, trains and just about anything else useful for train operations on that portion of the railroad that the timetable covers. Some timetables list the locomotives used by that road back then, therefor making the timetable a great reference tool. Looking back through some timetables, they reveal information about locations that no longer exist. I agree that "a picture is worth a 1000 words", but a timetable explains how, what and why about that picture.
I look at it this way: when I pick up an "actual" timetable (not a downloaded copy or computer generated illustration), I am picking up an actual piece of history. Something that was printed and used by a railroad that may no longer exist, to cover operations on a piece of track that may have been ripped up years ago. To look at a original cover of a timetable to see a logo that no longer graces the side of a locomotive, rolling stock or caboose, gives me a sense of nostalgia. Sometimes I say "if I could have only seen that". Next to a photograph, a timetable, in my opinion, is the next best way to "have seen that" and relive a railroad moment or memory.
A timetable can also be used as a useful modeling tool as well. You can read through one and gain a lot of knowledge about the railroad you want to model. How many stations did that railroad have and where were they? What RR's did they interchange with and where? What kind of businesses or industries did they serve? What was the speeds used on that track or what type of track did they use? What kind of dispatch system did they use - ctc or manual block train orders? What scheduled trains or passenger trains did they run, and when? What color where the switch targets? What signs or signals did they use? These, and many more questions can be answered just by flipping through the pages.
Well, I've gone on and on here about this topic just to answer 1 question. Why do I collect timetables? For the history. that's why. :o Although the road may be gone, as long as I still have 1 of their timetables, it still lives on. That booklet issued at one time to an employee of that railroad, carries on that roads legacy as long as someone still wants reads about it. It's all about owning a piece of history. That's why I collect timetables.
Corny? :geek: Maybe. What do you think? I'd like some other opinions on this subject.
Collecting timetables started for me while I was working for the railroad. I noticed an ad in our union newsletter from a person who was selling timetables. I was interested in seeing what "other" timetables looked like. Working for NYS&W at the time, it was required that we carried CR,D&H and NJT timetables because we operated on these roads too. So I wrote to this person, who I still chat with today, to send me a list. He sent me a list along with a "few freebies". I was hooked from there.
From collecting timetables, I have learned so much about the history of railroads. Even in the last 25 to 30 years, so much has changed in the railroad world. Mergers, downsizing, spinoffs etc...has changed the landscape. Think about it..we no longer have CR, ATSF, or BN. These "flags" were steadfast in the 90's but are now gone. How long before the next one falls or is absorbed into a merger? Many people turn to pictures or slides to remember "the good old days". I have learned that "the good old days" can also be found in a timetable. How?
A timetable is packed with information about the railroad. It lists all tracks, sidings, mainlines, stations, detectors, trains and just about anything else useful for train operations on that portion of the railroad that the timetable covers. Some timetables list the locomotives used by that road back then, therefor making the timetable a great reference tool. Looking back through some timetables, they reveal information about locations that no longer exist. I agree that "a picture is worth a 1000 words", but a timetable explains how, what and why about that picture.
I look at it this way: when I pick up an "actual" timetable (not a downloaded copy or computer generated illustration), I am picking up an actual piece of history. Something that was printed and used by a railroad that may no longer exist, to cover operations on a piece of track that may have been ripped up years ago. To look at a original cover of a timetable to see a logo that no longer graces the side of a locomotive, rolling stock or caboose, gives me a sense of nostalgia. Sometimes I say "if I could have only seen that". Next to a photograph, a timetable, in my opinion, is the next best way to "have seen that" and relive a railroad moment or memory.
A timetable can also be used as a useful modeling tool as well. You can read through one and gain a lot of knowledge about the railroad you want to model. How many stations did that railroad have and where were they? What RR's did they interchange with and where? What kind of businesses or industries did they serve? What was the speeds used on that track or what type of track did they use? What kind of dispatch system did they use - ctc or manual block train orders? What scheduled trains or passenger trains did they run, and when? What color where the switch targets? What signs or signals did they use? These, and many more questions can be answered just by flipping through the pages.
Well, I've gone on and on here about this topic just to answer 1 question. Why do I collect timetables? For the history. that's why. :o Although the road may be gone, as long as I still have 1 of their timetables, it still lives on. That booklet issued at one time to an employee of that railroad, carries on that roads legacy as long as someone still wants reads about it. It's all about owning a piece of history. That's why I collect timetables.
Corny? :geek: Maybe. What do you think? I'd like some other opinions on this subject.
Doing my best to stay on track and to live each day to it's fullest, trying not to upset people along the way. I have no enemies.....just friends who don't understand my point of view.
Steve
Let's go Devils!
Steve
Let's go Devils!