A friend writing a novel has asked me the approximate cost of traveling 2nd class (coach) from Philadelphia to Dickinson, North Dakota in 1890.
I have the September 1879 Rand McNally Offical Railway Guide and Handbook which has schedules for every railroad in the USA, but fares are not included for any of them.
Likewise, I have examined and photographed a Northern Pacific public timetable from 1883; still, no information anywhere as to ticket prices.
Can any of you estimate the cost of a coach ticket in 1890 from Philadelphia to Chicago, then from Chicago to the Twin Cities, and then on to Dickinson?
If you can't find any hard references (check with historical societies for the required lines), you might try getting Amtrak fares for the same trips and use an on-line inflation calculator to compute what they might have been.
Here's the result for a random figure ($65):
What cost $65 in 2016 would cost $2.40 in 1890.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 1890 and 2016,they would cost you $65 and $1729.39 respectively.
It might not be on the mark, but would at least be somewhat plausible...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I think once you found a typical fare in 1890 and worked Tree's inflation index forward, you would find the regular coach fare astonishingly expensive. The rails had a virtual monopoly, subsidies were non-existant, so fares were set to cover costs.
As a counterpoint to the regular coach fare, there were also various much cheaper fares available to certain types of travelers, and also for excursion train promotions to area attractions.
https://books.google.com/books?id=RnwKRUGNaXsC&pg=PA52&dq=%22july+14+for+services+as+examiner%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5rPGRr8XRAhUCWCYKHcabCaoQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22july%2014%20for%20services%20as%20examiner%22&f=true
Thank you, gentlemen for your good suggestions.
But my God, mike, where on earth do you find these kinds of sources? This stuff is golden: every cent accounted for, right down to the penny! Based on these accounts I get (est.) $36.18 from Philadelphia to Fargo. Add on the bit to Dickinson and call it $38 and change.
I'm mighty obliged.
And because I'm a curious sort...
Running that through an inflation calculator, you get what cost $38 in 1890 would cost $1029.53 in 2016.
Plugging Philly to Fargo into Amtrak shows fares ranging from $199 ("Value" - coach) to $641 ("Premium" - roomettes and bedrooms). "Saver" class was sold out on the day I selected. It's apparently cheaper than "Value." Wooden bench?
2.167 cents per mile
https://ia601609.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/26/items/changesinratesof15newc/changesinratesof15newc_jp2.zip&file=changesinratesof15newc_jp2/changesinratesof15newc_0067.jp2&scale=2&rotate=0
1696.2 miles via interstate
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=philadelphia+to+dickInson+nd+mileage
$36.76
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=1696.2+X+2.167
And using the current IRS business mileage rate yields $907.52 for the mileage quoted.
Interesting!
I have a doctor's expense list from 1887 that gives the price of a one-way ticket for two from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Los Angeles as $41.70. There are also extra charges of: $1.00 listed as "car," $1.25 for "Board," and $1.00 for two mattresses. I suppose the "car" charge is for a sleeper, and "Board" is for meals. If anyone can verify my guesses on these extra charges, please post.
"Board" probably does not mean or indicate meals or food. A train trip from Council Bluffs to Los Angeles would almost certainly require 2 nights aboard the train; it would not surprise me that it might take 3 nights in 1887. Then divide $1.25 by 6 or 9 or 12...and you can see that food is not the meaning here of "Board."
It's difficult for us today to really understand how primitive train travel to Los Angeles was in 1887. The transcontinental railroad had been open only 20 years and there were no dining cars on trains; one brought one's own food or ate in a hash-house in a station.
Have you seen pictures or drawings of the insides of a sleeping car from Out West around 1887? My guess is that "Board" means the actual piece of lumber you could put between the facing seats and the mattress would be on top of that (notice: no mention of bedding. That was also likely BYO). I'll venture that "car" is another word for surcharge: likely that surcharge meant you could use the car on the train that was for passengers who would rent the above furnishings and sleep there, as opposed to sleeping upright in a crowded and noisy day-coach, riding with some very unsavory types of males.
So, forty-one dollars and seventy cents was likely the train fare with no food and a mattress on a wooden board...for two people! Actually, that sounds like the new model for LD trains on Amtrak in a year or so.
No record of a return trip, is there? No wonder. If you lived anywhere near Council Bluffs in 1887 and once journeyed to warm & sunny southern California (just smell the scent of orange blossoms in the air!), would you go back to Iowa?
Council Bluffs to LA before the LA&SL was built-- he went via Sacramento, or what?
As you see, we know nothing about 1800s fares, and we don't know how fixed they were. I would have guessed more than $21 per person.
Dear NKP guy, Thank you for your helpful response. Your idea about the Board seems very plausable. The couple rented 2 mattresses at .50 apiece. My source belongs to a library collection, and I am waiting for the library to open up, so I can read the rest of the papers that belonged to the couple. I hope to find more about their trip to L.A. and what route the train took. I'll post anything I find.
Dear timz, I suppose you've seen my reply to NKP guy. Thanks for your response. The document I have is genuine, the personal (original) notebook of a female M.D., who came out to California with her husband, also an M.D. (homeopathic). I will post anything else of interest for railway travel that I find when the library opens up again.
timz I would have guessed more than $21 per person.
That works out to just over $600 in 2019 dollars. Other inflation calculators may vary.
Related tangentially ...
Quite a few years ago, long before I was active on these forums, I was in a period of my life when I was writing short stories.
I wrote to the Classic Trains forum and asked about the railroad(s) and the routing to go from Dallas to Las Vegas in November of 1963. And I got some great input, which I used in the story. These forums are indeed a great resource.
BTW, I have written (1) that above-mentioned short story with a railroad aspect; and (2) another one which has a heavy railroad presence. And (3) one that is predominantly a railroad story.
If any of you folks would like to read one or more of them, send me a PM with your email address, and I will send you one.
Regarding #2 and #3, I would be interested in the input from railroaders on the realism of the railroad content. None of the stories were written with railroader/railfan audience in mind, and I did not break my back trying for railroad-related accuracy. But I tried to get things right. However, I wouldn't mind any comments regarding things that don't make sense. (Or any other comments.) Story #3 is based very heavily on actual events.
Story #1 is kinda historical fiction, and #2 is about contemporary life and relationships, with the main character a conductor/brakeman on a short line.
If anyone is interested, please tell me which one you wish to read. I'd like to only send one at a time.
If you find all of this way too off-topic or presumptuous, please pardon the interruption and forget this post.
NKP, please wish your writer friend good luck from me. A novel is a huge undertaking, one that was too daunting for yours truly.
Lithonia OperatorIf you find all of this way too off-topic or presumptuous, please pardon the interruption and forget this post. NKP, please wish your writer friend good luck from me. A novel is a huge undertaking, one that was too daunting for yours truly.
Your comments about your writings are not at all off-topic or presumptious and they are not an interruption.
My friend's novel is The Badland Cure, by Ben Bassham and was published late last year by Pines Cove Books of Marion, Massachusetts (393 pp.). I have no idea how well it's selling. He did make good use of my research and credited me in the acknowledgements. While it's not quite the thrill of being the author of a book, being mentioned in a book's credits is always definitely a kick.
Many historians and writers of history would rather do research than actually write, I think. Getting the information I needed for my friend took me to the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University. It's more than nice to be in that jewel of a building for a few hours in the afternoon. I was able to see (and photograph) not only the relevant Northen Pacific Railroad schedules, maps, information and such, but I also asked to see a few ancient Baedecker guides such as the one for imperial Russia, that are simply unavailable elsewhere. Another thing I enjoyed looking at and photographing was the autograph score of "Crown Imperial" by Sir William Walton.
It's hard to write sometimes, especially when one is trying to create something to be proud of many years later. Then, after all the effort at writing comes the editing, another huge task. Writing photo captions isn't as easy as it seems, either. May I say here that I've always admired Al Stauffer's abilities in that department.
Then after all this is done, one faces the difficult and sometimes heart-breaking search for a publisher!
Keep writing, Lithonia Operator. Your words can have an immediate impact, bring you pleasure as the years go by, and then allow your thoughts and your voice to live on long after you've gone.
NKP guy Then after all this is done, one faces the difficult and sometimes heart-breaking search for a publisher!
A friend of mine just wrote a book on REO fire apparatus, which he self-published via an on-line service. He's on his second printing.
I have no idea of the variables in pricing - he's selling the hard cover book for $30. It does include color images.
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