Map of the Month: November 2017 TRAINS

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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The “Map of the Month” in the November 2017 issue of TRAINS is titled, “BN’s brief passenger history.” While the period that Burlington Northern operated its own intercity passenger trains was indeed short, the recurrence of TRAINS printing such maps riddled with mistakes has a long history, and this is no exception.
Starting with the east end of the railroad, these are the most apparent errors:

A block of text indicates 9 eastbound and 9 westbound “through” (i.e. non-commuter) passenger trains between Chicago and Aurora; this is evidently a sum of the 4 trains between Aurora and Savanna and the 5 between Aurora and Galesburg. The number is incorrect. Between Aurora and Galesburg, there were really only three trains in each direction: Trains 1-2, Denver Zephyr; Trains 11-12, the remnant of the Nebraska Zephyr, and trains 19-20, the American Royal. Trains 15T-16T (the “T” is for Tri-Weekly) are also indicated on the TRAINS map, but this was only through cars conveyed on trains 11 and 12 between Chicago and Omaha; Trains 5-6 are also indicated on the TRAINS map, but these, too, are just through cars riding trains 11 and 12 between Chicago and Galesburg. The through cars riding trains 11 and 12 error continues on the map between Galesburg and Omaha.

Between Aurora and St. Paul. 4 trains in each direction are indicated. Westbound are trains 7(Morning Zephyr), 9(Afternoon Zephyr), 25(North Coast Limited), and 31(Empire Builder). Train 7 indeed ran daily; Train 9 real

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To Mark Meyer… WHAM de BAMM BAMMMM![soapbox]

HELLO, TRAINS? [banghead]

This ain’t the first time…Knock Knock…[:-^][:-^]

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Yes, whoever prepared the map should definitely have carefully studied the BN passenger timetable and the BN map before preparing the map. Just looking at the timetable that showed all of the service between Chicago and the Twin Cities should have broght the realization that the three name trains were operated as one train.

As to the Chicago-Twin Cities service, I rode in the dome cars of all three trains while on my first trip to the west coast–and I ate in the diners of two roads the same day (lunch in one and dinner in the other).

As to Council Bluffs-Omaha, on one of my trips east on Amtrak #6, I was astounded to find the train crossing into Council Bluffs and not going down to Oreopolis; that track down to Pacific Junction is now a very slow track, and not really suitable for passenger service. I do not know how it was before 1 May 1971.