Early map of North American time zones. Railroads were not paying much attention to state boundaries.
It would seem as though State boundaries would have been easier to use. It might have been interesting to listen in on discussions of those days, about where the lines would be drawn.
State boundaries mean nothing to the railroad. Railroads also really don't care about the territory where there aren't railroads. The railroad cares where the crews go on duty. If you look at the places the time changes cross railroads it's at or near crew changes, for the most part, or at subdivision boundaries. By having the boundaries at crew changes, then a crew only works in one time zone, rather than having to change their watches in the middle of a trip.
Exactly. Mountain time doesn't begin until the ND/MT border on the Glasgow Sub, but railroad time change happens in Minot, 150 or so miles east. The division point at Soo Tower indicates this.
