PLANNING YOUR OWN TRAIN TRIP - All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide - page 45

Timetable, which provides a detailed schedule of trains running
between New York and Boston. You may want to ask for both.
Amtrak has done a good job with their timetables. The for-
mat is simple and well presented, making them easy to read. The
timetable contains much more than just train schedules. Depend-
ing on your specific itinerary, a lot of the information may be of
little or no concern, but some could be very important.
Below each schedule, for instance, is a paragraph describing
the different services available on that particular train. That's
where you can find out if your train has a dining car serving
full meals or if there's only a lounge car serving snacks. Most
of Amtrak's long-distance trains run daily, but others don't. For
instance, the Cardinal (Chicago-New York City) currently oper-
ates only three days a week. When you put a specific train into
your itinerary, it's certainly important to be sure it runs daily. The
timetable will give you that and other important information.
Some cities not served by Amtrak may be reached by buses
scheduled to connect with the trains. That information is also in
the timetable, along with the locations of all Amtrak stations and
whether it allows checking baggage.
One more thing about timetables in general: Remember that
minor changes in train schedules occur frequently. A train that
departs at 10:00 A.M. today and is listed accordingly in the current
timetable could leave 30 or 40 minutes earlier when you actually
travel three months from now. So once you've worked out your
itinerary and are ready to book your reservation, be sure to con-
firm all departure and arrival times for your specific dates, either
by calling Amtrak directly or with your travel agent. Then check
again a few days before you leave.
On the next page is a sample of an Amtrak timetable. After
studying it for a few minutes, you'll discover there is order and
logic to the format. The schedule for the westbound California
Zephyr, train 5, runs top to bottom in the left-hand column,