Creator
Charles F. Dowd
Title
System of National Time and Its Application by Means of Hour and Minute Indexes to the National Railway Time-Table
Coverage
Albany
Publisher
Weed, Parsons
Date
1870
Description
Charles Dowd was the among the first to propose time zones for the railroads of the United States. He published his idea in this work in 1870 and continued to promote it to state, municipal, federal, and business leaders. The idea of time zones would improve railroad operations by eliminating local standard times that could vary by 15 to 30 minutes or more between various railroad companies. Such variances often led to missed connections for passengers.