It seems to me that young people who go out railfanning at their favorite railroads, particularly the so called "foamers" have been overlooking a very valuable reference tool to aid them in their quest of their favorite trains, the timetable, either employee or public. Outdated employee timetables can be particularly useful in selecting a spot to set up for a photoshoot of a train or series of trains and it is a great historical reference. For those in former Conrail territory, the final timetables issued by Conrail can still be useful in scouting a photoshoot location. In addition to a railfan reference tool, obtaining a timetable or two could get the young railfan started in a most enjoyable hobby that is relaxing and often rewarding. Not only of obsolete employee timetables ,but old passenger timetables issued by railroads that had passenger service and many of which no longer exist. Here is a form of history come to life in a graphic way, the railroad timetable. There is an organization that I highly recommend, the National Association of Timetable Collectors. Annual dues are 30.00 regular membership and the address to which a check payable to NAOTC should be sent is PO Box 446, Georgetown, TX 78627-0446. Anyone, young or old, interested in railroad timetables, or other kinds of transport timetables is welcome. In addition to both kinds of railroad timetables, I also collect freight schedule publications as well. I hope more young people get into this fine hobby. It's a great way to learn about railroad operations.
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Getting Young Railfans Interested in Timetables
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Yes - and I'll just add that most current public carriers distribute their timetables absolutely free ! No need to purchase anything ! Just the thing for planning that photo shoot !
~Paul Joyce~
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Moderator: Toy Trains, Model Railroading, Outdoor and Live Steam
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Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
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Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
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3rdrail wrote:Yes - and I'll just add that most current public carriers distribute their timetables absolutely free ! No need to purchase anything ! Just the thing for planning that photo shoot !Where do you get these? Do these include freight lines? I only have Amtraks yet I lost that.
I don't know about freight, but passenger service almost universally hands out free timetables. In our area, you can pick up Amtrak's at South and Back Bay Stations. MBTA can be found at these as well, as well as North Station. At Back Bay, there is a large display of all the MBTA Commuter Rail lines. Out of the area, if you write to a company's community relations office and include a SSAE with a request for a timetable, you'll get one 4 out of 5 times.
~Paul Joyce~
Moderator: Toy Trains, Model Railroading, Outdoor and Live Steam
Paul Joyce passed away in August, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion at railroad.net.
Moderator: Toy Trains, Model Railroading, Outdoor and Live Steam
Paul Joyce passed away in August, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion at railroad.net.
The traditional railroad timetable on CSX (and I imagine most major carriers) has gone the way of the steam locomotive. We still use a timetable, and its a valuable resource, but we don't use it as a schedule. While freight trains do have a schedule, typically they don't run on schedule and the timetable doesn't list a freight train schedule. Signals and track warrants have done away with the need as far as the crews are concerned for operating purposes.
The outdated working timetable is an excellent complement to the public timetable issued by Amtrak and the commuter authorities, since it contains information not found in the public timetable, such as track diagrams, interlockings, speed restrictions, etc. that can be an aid to a railfan in finding a location to photograph trains. I include old employee timetables in my collection along with publics and frequently use the two together. Same goes for any freight schedule publications that may be available, too.
10more years wrote:The traditional railroad timetable on CSX (and I imagine most major carriers) has gone the way of the steam locomotive. We still use a timetable, and its a valuable resource, but we don't use it as a schedule. While freight trains do have a schedule, typically they don't run on schedule and the timetable doesn't list a freight train schedule. Signals and track warrants have done away with the need as far as the crews are concerned for operating purposes.
I collect timetables to reflect changes in services (firsts, lasts, etc) and changes in design (logos, artwork, etc).
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Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
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Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
NYW&B Fan Site :: A Magazine I Read Often :: A Museum I Volunteer At
Otto Vondrak wrote:I collect timetables to reflect changes in services (firsts, lasts, etc) and changes in design (logos, artwork, etc).I collect them to let me know what time I have to be on the train.
Hurry up and wait at the signal!
Timetable collecting is a fantastic hobby. I have been doing it for some 60 years now and have a huge collection of both
public and employee timetables.
I agree with the others, even an outdated employee timetable can be a big help when out watching or photographing trains
and I further suggest if you have access to a copy machine that you simply copy the pages you need for your trip to the
tracks and leave the timetable home where it won't get banged around. Unless I have a large number of the same timetable,
I always do that and it keeps my originals in good condition or at least as good as when I got them.
Some of the railroads are getting quite picky when it comes to distribution of employee timetables and today they are not
as easy to come by as they were a few years ago. Two reasons for this, they don't want the information in them to be
available to people who don't work for the railroad and don't really need them and second the cost of prepareing them and
printing them has gone up too and most like they don't print as many of them as they did a few years ago.
Years ago we had the "Official Guide" which at one time had everything in it but in its later years it lacked many of the
commuter railroad timetables because it cost money to be listed and I guess the railroads thought it unnecessary. Old
copies of the Official Guide can be rather expensive but they are a wonderful source of history and information.
The National Association of Timetable Collectors is a wonderful organization to be a part of, informative publications and an
annual convention and show are all worth while.
Above all, if you collect timetables, take care of them, staples can rust and if they do, remove them to prevent paper
damage, either leave them loose or better yet put new staples in them if you have a stapler that can do it. There are
plastic covers available to protect them and they do just that.
I did an inventory of my entire railroad collection which took me six years to finish but it was well worth the work, today I
can simply look at my computer or pull the printed copy out and determine just what I have whether it be timetables, books
or something else. Another task that is worth while if you have the time to do it.
Noel Weaver
public and employee timetables.
I agree with the others, even an outdated employee timetable can be a big help when out watching or photographing trains
and I further suggest if you have access to a copy machine that you simply copy the pages you need for your trip to the
tracks and leave the timetable home where it won't get banged around. Unless I have a large number of the same timetable,
I always do that and it keeps my originals in good condition or at least as good as when I got them.
Some of the railroads are getting quite picky when it comes to distribution of employee timetables and today they are not
as easy to come by as they were a few years ago. Two reasons for this, they don't want the information in them to be
available to people who don't work for the railroad and don't really need them and second the cost of prepareing them and
printing them has gone up too and most like they don't print as many of them as they did a few years ago.
Years ago we had the "Official Guide" which at one time had everything in it but in its later years it lacked many of the
commuter railroad timetables because it cost money to be listed and I guess the railroads thought it unnecessary. Old
copies of the Official Guide can be rather expensive but they are a wonderful source of history and information.
The National Association of Timetable Collectors is a wonderful organization to be a part of, informative publications and an
annual convention and show are all worth while.
Above all, if you collect timetables, take care of them, staples can rust and if they do, remove them to prevent paper
damage, either leave them loose or better yet put new staples in them if you have a stapler that can do it. There are
plastic covers available to protect them and they do just that.
I did an inventory of my entire railroad collection which took me six years to finish but it was well worth the work, today I
can simply look at my computer or pull the printed copy out and determine just what I have whether it be timetables, books
or something else. Another task that is worth while if you have the time to do it.
Noel Weaver