Destroy All Former Time Tables

"Destroy All Former Time Tables" was printed on the cover of all Employee Time Tables, along with the date and time the publication became effective. Employee Time Tables contained the raw materials necessary for the safe navigation from point A to point B, as opposed to Public Time Tables, filled with photos and sales banter.

Employee Time Table come in a wide variety of sizes; for years both CNR and CPR, for example, printed in an unwieldy 11” 16”.

Finally in about 1960, CNR and CPR switched to a more widely accepted 8.5” x 11”.

Reading an Employee Time Table may at first seem dull and robotic. But dig a little further, and one can gain an appreciation for territory the railroad passes through. Usually broken down into operating divisions and subdivision, the main purpose is to indicate the arrival and departure times for various classes of trains and mileages between stations.

But digging deeper, we can glean the car capacity of various siding, businesses and industries located along the line, along with their car capacity, an a variety of operating information such a speed restrictions, permanent slow locations, and important restricted clearance.

Many Employee Time Tables list company doctors, watch inspectors, and chain of command, from Superintendent down to relief train dispatchers. Time Tables may also include diagrams showing the location of train phone wire, showing telephone pole cross arm with train wires marked as [ ]. Others include the ubiquitous “speed table” and Tonnage Ratings for different classes of locomotives.

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Employee Time Table even incuded a nine inch ruler along its back edge, presumably for measuring trout caught at scheduled meets (?)

Not only was this Southern Pacific time table an unusual size of 4” x 11” (for fitting into bib overalls?) but it also included track profiles for the various divisions.

So you can learn a lot about a railroad, by reading the information contained in the Employee Time Table. It can make for interesting reading!