On our trip to the PRB we relied heavily on two old Mountain Plains Region Railfan Timetables. Even though they were old and out of date, they were still a very useful and convenient source of basic information. The newest one we had was No. 4 dated February 2001.....was that the last covering Wyoming?

How useful it was helped us reflect on how big the loss of Altamont Press will be. We have been spoiled by the hard work of a bunch of people over the years to create those things. And when publication ceases they are going to be missed. I'm a retired rail, and was traveling with two other retired rails, and we have access to all kinds of official employee timetables, track charts, and so on. But you can't beat the convenience of the railfan timetables.

The good news is railroads change slowly, so the old ones will retain a lot of value for a long time. I predict a black market for old railfan timetables will evolve, with old issues selling at multiples of their original price.

JBWX