Nostalgia & History > Timetable Thursday - Grand Trunk Rwy. Chicago Divn. 1928

89 years seemed like a long time ago until I thought about the trainmen we used to talk to
on the Maple Leaf and Mohawk in the early 1970’s. Those men (“Doc” Ledford and Roy Lawrence)
were probably working when this timetable came out.

Inside front cover. I assume the tonnage rating was not automatically calculated by computer on
the crew’s train profile.

Page 1. The eastbound pull up the hill between Sedley and Valpo has always been the test for power.

Telephones – The term “listening telephones” is new to me. I assume you could also talk to the DS over it.
Was a listening telephone one that the DS could not "ring"?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/17 18:44 by Englewood.

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Page 4. Looks like this was before the joint track with the NYC through South Bend.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/17 18:32 by Englewood.

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Page 6. Suburban train between Harvey and Chicago.

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Page 8. Electric Staff system on the single track between Sedley and Valpo.

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Page 12. First paragraph under “GENERAL” is interesting. I wonder if it is referring to the
“tell tales” at points of low overhead clearance.

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Page 15. Concise instructions for passenger trainmen.

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Hope you enjoyed the look way back.
Knowledge is of no value unless shared with others.

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Another gem! Too much info. in there to comment on!
That's neat that they ran a mid-day Saturday suburban train.
Did you see the rule about conductors putting the lantern under their coat when walking thru sleeping cars?
That was an impressive railroad back in 28, and they had service spread though out the whole day.

This Trunk Time Table is a real show stopper. The commuter train to Harvey! Had never heard of one before.
And under Railroad Crossings, Junctions and Draw Bridges, check out Valparaiso,
with an electric railway crossing NOT INTERLOCKED!
Even better, Ashburn and Hayford, crossings not interlocked and governed by gates!
Would I ever love to see photos of those locations.

The paragraph about the tell-tales is a real gem. Still going through the Special Instructions;
so much interesting reading there. Thanks for posting this classic TT.

The NYC/GTW joint track thru South Bend was effective in 1929.

cnr6776 Wrote:
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> The NYC/GTW joint track thru South Bend was
> effective in 1929.

Thanks for the info

Thanks for sharing. I was trying to determine how many trains ran on the mainline at that time but only see passenger trains... Either the freights were all extras or you didn't include the pages for freights

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

All freights were extras on the GTW in the steam era. May have been the same in the diesel era too, but I am not sure.

Steve

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for sharing. I was trying to determine how
> many trains ran on the mainline at that time but
> only see passenger trains... Either the freights
> were all extras or you didn't include the pages
> for freights
>
> Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

U-3-B is correct as far as I know.
When the passenger trains were still running in the
early 70's the freights were extras and displayed
white flags by day and white lights by night. The freights had
numbers like 430, 392, 391, 393 etc. but those numbers were not used
for main track authority.

Englewood Wrote:
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> Telephones – The term “listening telephones”
> is new to me. I assume you could also talk to the
> DS over it.
> Was a listening telephone one that the DS could
> not "ring"?

There is not much on the term in telephone history, but the few references I found referred to a switchboard operator's set, which could be plugged into circuits as needed. That would be in general, a phone with no way to call it. That makes sense for phone booths. Towers are listed too. It appears that the towers could talk on the dispatcher line but had to be called on the wire. It reminds me of the night that I was at Faithorn (IL-MILW). An east man just left and the operator went back to the chair, opened the key and said CE CE FONE FN then walked to the phone and the wall. (CE - office call for Momence FN office call for Faithorn) He saw my quizzical look and said Ringer doesn't work.

TAW

Thanks for the info guys. I though that was the case. By the early 1960s the Wabash did the same thing.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com


Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wabash2800 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for sharing. I was trying to determine
> how
> > many trains ran on the mainline at that time
> but
> > only see passenger trains... Either the
> freights
> > were all extras or you didn't include the pages
> > for freights
> >
> > Victor A. Baird
> > http://www.erstwhilepublications.com
>
> U-3-B is correct as far as I know.
> When the passenger trains were still running in
> the
> early 70's the freights were extras and displayed
> white flags by day and white lights by night. The
> freights had
> numbers like 430, 392, 391, 393 etc. but those
> numbers were not used
> for main track authority.