List of Las Vegas casinos that never opened
Over the years there have been several casinos and resorts planned for the Las Vegas Valley that never opened. The stages of planning may have been just an announcement or groundbreaking.[1][2][3]
Asia Resort and Casino
Where the Palazzo Casino and Resort currently stands (adjacent to the Venetian Hotel and Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center), an Asian themed casino was proposed but was rejected for the present Palazzo project.[4]
Alon Las Vegas
A proposed luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip on the former site of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino, announced in 2015.[5] The project was put in doubt after Crown Resorts announced in late 2016 it was suspending its involvement in the development.[6] Crown announced in December 2016 that it was halting the project and seeking to sell its investment. The remaining partner Andrew Pascal announced he was seeking other partners to proceed with the project. However in May 2017, the land went up for sale.[7] The land was later purchased by Steve Wynn.
Beau Rivage
Steve Wynn, who had purchased and demolished the Dunes hotel-casino, had originally planned to build a modern hotel in the middle of a man-made lake. He later built the Bellagio with a man-made lake in the front of the hotel.[citation needed] The name was later used by Wynn for a resort built in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Caribbean Casino
In 1988, a sign for a proposed casino was erected on a fenced vacant lot on Flamingo Road. Standing near the sign was a scale model galleon. For several years, that was all that stood on the property. The empty lot was the source of many jokes by the locals until the ship, which was later damaged by a fire started by a homeless person, was torn down in the 1990s and the lot became the site of the Tuscany Suites and Casino co-owned by Charles Heers, who has owned the property since the 1960s.[8]
Carnival
In 1990, the Radisson group proposed a 3,376-room hotel next to the Dunes, with a casino shaped like a Hershey's Kiss.[9]
Cascada
A proposed resort that was to have been built on the site of El Rancho Vegas. The parcel is now partially taken by the Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Las Vegas Festival Grounds.[4]
City by the Bay Resort and Casino
A San Francisco-themed resort was proposed for the site of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. The project was rejected in favor of the Swiss-themed Montreux, which was also eventually cancelled.[4]
Countryland USA
A country music-themed resort was planned for construction of the site of the former El Rancho Hotel and Casino. For some years, the El Rancho sign stood with the words "Coming Soon - Future Home of Countryland USA."[10][11]
Craig Ranch Station
Main article: Craig Ranch Station A Mediterranean-themed hotel-casino for North Las Vegas, proposed by Station Casinos in March 2000.[12] The project faced opposition from nearby residents,[13][14][15] which led to the proposed location being changed to a vacant property on the nearby Craig Ranch Golf Course.[16] Residential opposition to the new location led to the project being rejected by the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee in March 2001. Station Casinos still had the option to develop the project on the initial site,[17][18] but the project was cancelled entirely in July 2001, following a weak financial quarter for the company.[19]
Crown Las Vegas
Main article: Crown Las Vegas Formerly known as Las Vegas Tower, the Crown Las Vegas was to have been a supertall skyscraper built on the former site of a Wet 'n Wild water park. In March 2008, the project was canceled and the property was put up for sale.[20]
Desert Kingdom
In 1993, ITT Sheraton purchased the Desert Inn casino, and had announced plans to develop the large parking lot into a Balinese themed resort to complement the Desert Inn. The project was never developed and the site is now the location of Wynn Las Vegas.[4]
DeVille Casino
After building the Landmark Hotel and Casino on Convention Center Drive and selling it to Howard Hughes, developer Frank Carroll built the DeVille Casino across the street from the Landmark at 900 Convention Center Drive in 1969. Chips were made for the casino (and are sought-after collectibles), but the casino never opened.[21] The building was renovated in 1992 as a race book parlor named Sport of Kings which closed after nine months.[22] It became the location of The Beach nightclub, which was demolished in 2007 to make room for a planned 600-unit tower[23] that was never built.[24] The land sits currently empty.
Echelon Place
Main article: Echelon Place An announced project by Boyd Gaming planned to have a hotel built on the property of the former Stardust Resort & Casino. Construction was suspended on August 1, 2008 due to the Great Recession. In March 2013, Boyd Gaming sold the proposed site for $350 million to the Genting Group, which is redeveloping the project as the Asian-themed Resorts World Las Vegas.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Main article: The Drew Las Vegas Located on the Las Vegas Strip and originally known as Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Construction began in 2007, and the resort was to include a casino, 2,871 hotel rooms, and 1,018 condominium units.[25] Construction on the $2.9 billion project ceased in 2009, the year of its planned opening. Investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC purchased the unfinished resort in 2017.[26] In 2018, Witkoff and Marriott International announced a partnership to open the renamed project as The Drew Las Vegas in 2020. The resort will include a casino and three hotels totaling nearly 4,000 rooms, with the condominium aspect removed from the project.[27]
Harley-Davidson Hotel and Casino
A resort themed after the motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson was proposed, complete with hotel towers shaped like gigantic exhaust pipes, but was never built.[4]
Jockey Club Casino
The Jockey Club is a condominium and timeshare resort at 3700 Las Vegas Boulevard South. It was planned to have a casino, and chips were made for its use, but the casino was never opened.[28]
Kactus Kate's
By April 1994, Gold Coast Hotel and Casino owner Michael Gaughan was interested in building a hotel-casino in North Las Vegas,[29] at the northeast corner of North Rancho Drive and Carey Avenue. In January 1995, the city planning commission approved the rezoning of the land for use as a hotel-casino. The resort, to be named Kactus Kate's, would be built by Gold Coast Hotel/Casino Limited. The hotel would include 450 rooms, and the casino would be 105,000 sq ft (9,800 m2),[30] later decreased to 102,000 sq ft (9,500 m2).[31] The resort would be located directly north of the nearby Fiesta and Texas Station resorts.[31]
In December 1998, Coast Resorts, Inc. received approval from the planning commission for a use-permit relating to the undeveloped property. In November 2000, the planning commission unanimously approved a two-year extension on the permit, giving the company more time to decide whether it would build Kactus Kate's. Because of a 1999 Senate bill that placed restrictions on casinos in neighborhoods, Coast Resorts had a deadline of 2002 to build the casino. The hotel would measure over 100 feet (30 m) high, and Coast Resorts was required to notify the Federal Aviation Administration of its final plans, due to the site being located less than 1,000 feet (300 m) from a runway at the North Las Vegas Airport.[32] In January 2001, Station Casinos purchased the 29-acre (12 ha) site for $9 million. Coast Resorts president Harlan Braaten said, "As we saw the competitive nature of that area intensify, in terms of the size of competing facilities, we just felt we would have to build something much bigger than we had intended to compete with Texas Station and Santa Fe Station. It was just going to be a very expensive project, and we didn't feel the returns would be that good." Station Casinos planned to sell the property as a non-gaming site.[31]
Las Vegas Plaza
Main article: Las Vegas Plaza Not to be confused with the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
This was to have been modeled after the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The project was announced shortly before the demolition of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino, where the new hotel would be built. Las Vegas Plaza was cancelled in 2011 due to the Great Recession.
London Resort and Casino
This announced project was to have been themed around the city of London, and featuring replicas of the city's landmarks. The project was to be built on land across from the Luxor Hotel and Casino. A second London-themed resort was to be built on the former land of the El Rancho Hotel and Casino. Neither project ever began construction.[4]
London, Las Vegas
This was a proposed three-phase project using London as its design inspiration. When completed, the 38.5-acre (15.5 ha) property would have featured 1,300 hotel rooms, a casino, a 500-foot-tall (152.4 m) observation wheel named Skyvue (partially constructed), and 550,000 square feet (51,097 square meters) of restaurants and shops — all of which would be architectural replicas of various British landmarks and neighborhoods.[33] The project was to be constructed on land across from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, where — as of November 2019 — the partially-constructed Skyvue still stands. The wheel was to be "Phase I of London, Las Vegas".
Montreux Resort
This Swiss-themed resort was to have been built on the property of the former New Frontier Hotel and Casino, but was ultimately cancelled.[34]
Moon Resort and Casino
Proposed by Canadian developer Michael Henderson, this is a planned 10,000-room, 250-acre (1.0 km2) lunar-themed casino resort.[35] Gaming experts doubt it will ever be built in Las Vegas, simply because the space planned for it is too large for the Las Vegas Strip.[4]
NevStar 2000
Further information: Craig Ranch Station § NevStar 2000 Proposed by NevStar Gaming in 1998, the NevStar 2000 entertainment complex in North Las Vegas would have included a hotel and casino,[36] but the project faced opposition from nearby residents who did not want a casino in the area.[37][38] The project was cancelled when NevStar Gaming filed for bankruptcy in December 1999.[12]
North Coast/Boyd Gaming project
In May 2003, Coast Casinos had plans for the North Coast hotel-casino, to be built at the southwest corner of Centennial Parkway and Lamb Boulevard in North Las Vegas. The project would be built on approximately 40 acres (16 ha) of vacant land, surrounded by other land that was also undeveloped. At the time, the North Las Vegas Planning Commission was scheduled to review requests for zoning changes and approvals for the project. The project was not scheduled to be built for at least another four years, after completion of a highway interchange at Lamb Boulevard and the nearby Interstate 15, as well as the completion of an overpass over nearby railroad tracks. Bill Curran, an attorney for the land owner, said, "We're going through the zoning changes now so everybody knows what's going to be out there." The North Coast would include a casino, a 10-story hotel with 398 rooms, a bowling alley, movie theaters, and a parking garage.[39] In June 2003, the Planning Commission voted 6 to 1 to approve preliminary applications necessary to begin work on the North Coast.[40][41]
Boyd Gaming, the owner of Coast Casinos, announced in February 2006 that it would purchase the 40-acre site for $35 million.[42] Jackie Gaughan and Kenny Epstein were the owners at the time.[43] Boyd Gaming had not decided on whether the new project would be a Coast property or if it would be similar to the company's Sam's Town hotel-casino. At the time, no timetable was set for building the project.[42] In March 2007, the project was put on hold. At the time, Boyd Gaming had been securing construction permits for the project but decided to first review growth in the area. Construction had been scheduled to begin in mid-2007.[44] In August 2013, Boyd Gaming sold the undeveloped property for $5.15 million.[43]
Palace of the Sea Resort and Casino
This was to have been built on the former Wet 'n Wild waterpark site. Conceptual drawings included yacht-shaped towers that housed suites, a casino resembling the Sydney Opera House and a 600-foot (180 m) tall Ferris wheel-type attraction dubbed a "Sky Wheel". It never left the planning stages.[4]
Paramount Las Vegas
A casino and hotel and condo resort with more than 1,800 units that was planned by Royal Palms Las Vegas, a subsidiary of Royal Palms Communities.[45][46] The project was to replace the Klondike Hotel and Casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip,[47][45] beside the Las Vegas welcome sign.[48] The resort was approved in October 2006,[45] but an investor pulled out of the project in August 2007, and the land was put up for sale in May 2008.[46]
Pharoah's Kingdom
Pharoah's Kingdom was planned as a $1.2 billion gaming, hotel and theme park complex to be built on 710 acres (290 ha) at Pebble Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, five miles south of the Las Vegas Strip.[49][1] Construction was approved in October 1988,[49] with Silano Development Group as the developer.[50]
The project would have an Egyptian theme, including two 12-story pyramids made of crystal, with each containing 300 suites. The hotel would have a total of 5,000 rooms,[50] making it the largest in the world.[51] The 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m2) casino would include 100 table games and 3,000 slot machines, while an RV park, mini-golf, a bowling alley, and a video game arcade would be located beside the casino area.[52] Three of the project's various pyramid structures would house the 50-acre (20 ha) family theme park. Other features would include sphinxes, man-made beaches, waterways resembling the Nile river, an underwater restaurant, a 24-hour child-care facility, a 100-tenant shopping promenade, and a repertory-style theater that would be overseen by actor Jack Klugman.[52] Additionally, the resort would feature an 18-hole PGA Championship golf course,[52] and a monorail located within the theme park.[50] The project would have one mile of frontage along Las Vegas Boulevard.[52]
Frank Gambella, president of the project, stated that financing was in place, with groundbreaking planned for March or April 1989. Gambella said the project would be financed by several entities, with the money coming from a Nevada corporation, suggesting the entities would be grouped together as an umbrella corporation. Gambella stated that the project could be opened by Labor Day 1990. The resort was expected to employ 8,000 people. Following the completion of the resort, Gambella said a complex of 750 condominiums would be built on the land along with 900 retirement-care apartments.[52]
The project was cancelled shortly after it was announced, as authorities became suspicious of developer Anthony Silano's fundraising efforts for the project. It was discovered that Silano and his associates hacked into the Switzerland bank accounts of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos following his death in 1989. Silano pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges. Another Egyptian-themed resort, Luxor Las Vegas, would open on the south Las Vegas Strip in 1993.[1]
Planet Hollywood Resort (original plans)
Not to be confused with the current Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Originally planned to open in the late 1990s on the site of the Desert Inn, it was to be one of the largest hotels in Las Vegas. Because of the bankruptcy of Planet Hollywood Restaurants, the hotel was never built. However, in the 2000s, a group of investors bought the new Aladdin Hotel and Casino and remodeled it with a modern Hollywood theme.[4]
Playboy Hotel and Casino
A proposed casino resort themed after Playboy magazine was rejected in favor of a nightclub and suites built at the top two floors of the new Palms tower.[4] The planned location for the Playboy Hotel and Casino, on the Las Vegas Strip, was later used for the Cosmopolitan resort.[53]
Santa Fe Valley
Main article: Santa Fe Valley Santa Fe Gaming, which owned the Santa Fe hotel-casino in northwest Las Vegas, had plans for a second Santa Fe property in 1996.[54] The Santa Fe Valley would be built on a 40-acre (16 ha) lot[55] in Henderson, Nevada, adjacent to the Galleria at Sunset mall. The start of construction was delayed several times because of poor financial quarters for Santa Fe Gaming,[54] and because of the company not yet receiving financing for the project.[56] Site preparation started in July 1998, with an opening date scheduled for December 1999,[57] but construction never began. In 1999, the property was sold to Station Casinos,[58][59] which sold the land a year later for use as a shopping center.[60]
Shenandoah Hotel and Casino
A project by Wayne Newton. Although the hotel operated for a short time at 120 E. Flamingo Road, the management was unable to get a gaming license. After years of floundering it was sold to a Canadian company and became Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino.
Silver City proposals
By January 2000, Luke Brugnara was planning to build a San Francisco-themed resort on the site of the closed Silver City Casino.[61] Brugnara intended to give Silver City a multimillion-dollar renovation, with plans to have a fully operational hotel-casino by 2002.[62] In March 2001, Brugnara's request for a gaming license was rejected.[63] In May 2002, it was announced that Brugnara had sold the casino while retaining six acres located behind the building.[64] In 2003, Brugnara was planning to build a 24-story, 304-room hotel and casino resort on a portion of the Silver City property. The resort, to be named "Tycoon", was to be designed by Lee Linton, with an expected cost of approximately $100 million.[65]
Starship Orion
International Thoroughbred Breeders (ITB) announced plans to demolish the El Rancho and construct Starship Orion, a $1 billion hotel, casino, entertainment and retail complex with an outer space theme, covering 5.4 million square feet (501,676 square meters). The resort was to include seven separately owned casinos, each approximately 30,000 square feet (2,787 square meters).[66][67] Each potential casino owner was to contribute up to $100 million to own and operate a casino within the complex.[68] The complex would have included 300,000 square feet (27,871 square meters) of retail space, as well as 2,400 hotel rooms and a 65-story hotel tower. ITB hoped to begin construction later in 1996, with a planned opening date of April 1998.[67]
Sunrise
This was to have been located at 4575 Boulder Highway. Property developer Michael Mona Jr. built the hotel-casino and stated that he was going to break tradition by starting a "casino without a theme". He failed to get an unrestricted gaming license when suspicions arose concerning his associations with alleged organized crime figures. Chips were made for the casino, but were never used.[69] The building was opened as Arizona Charlie's Boulder.
Titanic
In 1999, Bob Stupak was planning a 400-foot-high (122 m) resort themed after the RMS Titanic, to be built on a 10-acre (4 hectares) property he owned near downtown Las Vegas. The resort would have included 1,200 rooms, 800 of which were to be used for timeshares to help finance the project. That year, planning commissioners rejected Stupak's request to change the zoning to allow for a hotel.[70] The project was later planned for the former site of the El Rancho Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip, but was rejected by the Las Vegas City Council.[4]
W Las Vegas
Main article: W Las Vegas W Las Vegas was proposed in August 2005, as a $1.7 billion joint project between Starwood and Edge Resorts, with a scheduled opening in 2008. The project would include a 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) casino and approximately 3,000 hotel, condo hotel, and residential units.[71][72] The project was cancelled in May 2007, after Starwood pulled out of the deal.[73]
Wally's Wagon Wheel
Wally's Wagon Wheel was to be developed by Walter Weiss through his company, Magna Leisure Partnership.[74][75] The project was proposed for 2200 South Boulder Highway in Henderson,[76][77] between Wagon Wheel Drive and Roberts Road,[78] near Henderson's Old Vegas western theme park. Manga Leisure Partnership purchased the 15.5-acre property in late February 1988. Weiss, at that time, had tentative plans for a western-themed, 112-room property known then as the Wagon Wheel Hotel and Casino. The Wagon Wheel was expected to cost $15 million, and financing had yet to be obtained for the project, which Weiss expected to open in early 1990.[74] The project, which would include a 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2) casino, was to be built in two phases.[79]
By October 1991, Wally's Wagon Wheel remained unbuilt due to difficulty obtaining financing.[80][76] That month, the Henderson Planning Commission voted to give Weiss more time to make progress on the project. At that time, the project was to include 204 hotel rooms and would be built on 13.30 acres (5.38 ha). Weiss noted that the nearby successful Sam's Town hotel-casino opened with 204 rooms, and he believed his project would be successful if he opened with the same amount of rooms for good luck.[76] By the end of 1992, Weiss had still not acquired financing for Wally's Wagon Wheel. At the time, the project was the largest of five casinos being planned for Henderson. The three-story project was to include 200 rooms, two restaurants, a theater lounge for country and western entertainment, and a large bingo room. Weiss stated that groundbreaking was scheduled for May 1993, with an expected opening in June 1994. The hotel-casino would employ approximately 600 people upon opening.[81]
Weiss met with nearby residents to discuss the project, and he had the original design changed to include a larger buffer zone between homes and the hotel-casino. In November 1994, the Henderson Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of Weiss' requested zone change as part of the redesign. The project, at that time, was to include a one-story casino and a four-story hotel with 400 rooms.[82][83] In December 1994, the Henderson City Council rejected Weiss' plans for a 200-foot (61 m) buffer.[84]
In July 1997, the unbuilt project received its sixth extension from the Henderson Planning Commission for a use permit and architectural review.[85] In August 1997, the Henderson City Council approved the sixth extension, but denied Weiss' appeal for a one-year extension, instead giving him six months to make progress on the project.[77] Up to that time, $1.7 million had been invested in the project by Magna Leisure Partnership.[86] As of 1998, the project was expected to cost $80 million and employ at least 1,200 people, and the proposed site had increased to 19 acres (7 ha). At that time, Weiss stated that he was close to obtaining financing for the project from a casino operator.[87] The project was never built.
Wild Wild West
Not to be confused with Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel. As of 1993, Station Casinos owned a 27-acre (11 ha) site on Boulder Highway with the potential to be developed as a casino. The site was located across the street from Sam's Town hotel-casino.[88] In January 1998, Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. announced plans to purchase Station Casinos, which had intended to sell the land prior to the announcement.[89] By March 1998, Station Casinos was planning to develop a hotel-casino complex on the land, which was occupied by a vacant strip mall. The complex would be known as Wild Wild West, with local residents as the target clientele.[90][89]
Crescent's purchase of Station Casinos failed in August 1998, and Station Casinos subsequently slowed its plans to build the project.[91] By the end of the year, the project had received approval from the Clark County Planning Commission for a 273,000 sq ft (25,400 m2) casino and a 504-room hotel.[92] No timetable for construction was announced,[92][93] and Station Casinos had already decided by that point not to start any new projects prior to 2000.[92] Station Casinos sold the undeveloped land for $11.2 million to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in April 2004.[94]
World Port
In 2000, Howard Bulloch, David Gaffin, and their partner Tom Gonzales transferred ownership of the Glass Pool Inn property to their group, known as New World, with plans for a megaresort.[95] New World purchased several other nearby motels to accumulate a 77-acre (31 ha) parcel located on the Las Vegas Strip and east of the Mandalay Bay.[96] In January 2001, plans were announced for World Port Resorts, a megaresort consisting of hotel-casinos, a convention center and a fine arts facility. The project was to be built on the 77-acre (31 ha property, a portion of which was occupied by the Glass Pool Inn.[96]
World Trade Center
To have been located at 925 East Desert Inn Road. Leonard Shoen, co-founder of U-Haul truck rental, purchased the property of what had been the Chaparral Hotel & Casino in 1996, renovating it into the World Trade Center Hotel. A gaming license was applied for, but when it was discovered that two of Shoen's closest partners were convicted felons, the application was denied in 1998. He withdrew his application, and died in a car crash in 1999 that was ruled a suicide. Cards and gaming chips were produced for the World Trade Center Casino, but were never used.[97] The property has since been demolished and is now a parking lot, part of the Las Vegas Convention Center Annex.
World Wrestling Federation
A casino resort themed after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was proposed for a property near the Interstate 15 freeway across from Mandalay Bay. The project never went past the proposal stage.[4] The land where it would have stood is now Allegiant Stadium.
WWF also proposed to open the project on the property once used by the Clarion Hotel and Casino, which was demolished in 2015 to become a parking lot.
Xanadu
In February 1976, the Clark County Commission approved the 23-story Xanadu resort, to be built on the Las Vegas Strip at the corner of South Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. The resort would include approximately 1,700 hotel rooms and a casino, as well as convention facilities, a showroom, dining, and indoor tennis courts. The resort was to be developed by Tandy McGinnis – of Bowling Green, Kentucky – and his Xanadu Corporation, and would be built on 48.6 acres (19.7 ha) owned by Howard Downes, a resident of Coral Gables, Florida.[98][99][100] The Xanadu would feature a pyramid design, and was expected to cost $150 million.[100] It would have been the first themed mega-resort. Much information and many artifacts of the project are housed at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas library. The Excalibur Hotel and Casino ultimately opened on the property in 1990.[101]
See also
Category:Defunct casinos in the Las Vegas Valley List of Atlantic City casinos that never opened

Well friends, it’s the first day of Baccanovember over on Tumblr. It’s also the 10 year anniversary of the 2007 Baccano! adaptation, the original 13 episode airing of which came to an end back in the beginning of November 2007.
To celebrate, I’ve decided to write up a guide detailing the differences between the 2007 anime adaptation and the source material it adapted. I’ve been writing about this in various comments over the years, and figured this was a good opportunity to consolidate the information.
While this post was originally shared on /Baccano, I thought I should also share it here on /anime since I figured you guys might also find it useful. It's meant for those who are not deeply involved with Baccano! beyond the anime but are curious to learn more.
TL;DR: The anime is an excellently directed show that deserves to be commended, and the plot changes do not negate its quality. However, it is worth knowing what it changes from the novel and how deep those changes run, which I aim to showcase below. Both the anime and the novels, along with the other media adaptations (manga, NDS game, drama CDs) are a rewarding experience and I cannot recommend them enough.

OUTLINE OF GUIDE

• Intro to Material: what the anime adapts + database links
• Spoiler-free Zone: List of characters missing from or reduced to cameos in the anime + basic statement on differences
• Spoiler Zone: In-depth overview of main plot/timeline differences
• Discussion of where you can read episode-by-episode differences which have more detailed comparisons

AUTHOR BACKGROUND

If you’re asking yourself, “Why trust Rev?” I am the admin of the Baccano! Wiki and a mod of /Baccano, and have been engaging with both the anime and the source material or years. That doesn't mean I don't make mistakes, so I apologize for any misinformation in the post. Please let me know if you spot any so I can correct them!

Introduction to Material

Links: ANN | MAL | AniP | Kitsu | AniDB
The original thirteen episode run of the 2007 anime adaptation adapted the first four novels of the Baccano! light novel series, which as of November 1, 2017 is twenty-two light novels long. The 23rd novel has been delayed due to health reasons on Narita's part. In other words, the anime adapts less than a fifth of the series at its current length.
If you want to get into the novels, you should start with volume one (The Rolling Bootlegs) and progress in publishing order. As this guide will demonstrate, the changes made in the anime are too significant for you to be able to jump in at volume five without major comprehension snags.
The three major timelines in the Baccano! anime are as follows: ^{* Credit to the following three photo edits goes to JelloApocalypse and his abridged series.}
November 1930 timeline | The Thousand-Year Drink | Adapted from Light Novel #1: Martillo Family associate Firo Prochainezo is set to be promoted to executive. Meanwhile, a certain elixir nears completion and a gang of hooligans and a nonsensical thief duo are swept into the mess. Original events take place over two days and one night, but the anime condenses them into one day and one night. As a result, several events are switched around/altered chronologically. Other events are also changed or cut out entirely.
December 30-31, 1931 | Dangers on a Train | Adapted from LNs#2-3: Tells the story of a transcontinental luxury express hijacked by three independent factions simultaneously en route. And what's this about the Rail Tracer...? Most changes are directly related to the characters that are cut from the timeline in the anime. However, the anime also leaves out plenty of scenes for the sake of mystery.
Dec 1931-Jan 1932 | Finding Dallas | Adapted from LN#4: Largely concerned with the Runorata-Gandor feud reaching a boiling point and the search for the missing Dallas Genoard. The most egregiously changed timeline in the anime, with it completely deviating from the fourth novel. For instance, Dallas is not the MacGuffin of the novel: a bag/case of a new potent drug prototype is.
OVAS + Other: The anime also adapts certain scenes from the fifth novel 2001 The Children of Bottle, including the 1711 content and certain discussion dialogue for scenes in the OVAs that HIGHLY deviate from the original scenes. The main story of the OVAs is connected to the 14th novel, which was an expanded version of the gaiden novel that was released alongside the first drama CD in 2006 (before the anime aired). There are definitely differences between the OVAs and the 14th novel, and major differences between the OVAs and the 5th novel.

Characters cut out of the anime or reduced to cameos

1930

• Unnamed Photographer (used as framing device of novel in 2002)
• Bobby Splot, Troy, Tall, Humpty (in 2002 scenes)
• Jorgi (Gandors' former finances manager)
• Edward Noah; Bill Sullivan (left); Donald Brown (same img; right) (reduced to cameos)
• Police Superintendent Veld (Edward's superior with a...secret)

1931

• Jack (Member of Jacuzzi's gang that is supposed to be part of their group on the train; cameos in Eps 01 and 15)
• Mr. Turner (racist and xenophobic First-Class passenger connected to a certain character's past)
• Doctor Fred (WWI military doctor who treats injured on train regardless of faction)
• Chef Gregoire (head chef of kitchen and also connected to another character's past)
• Upham (Lemur. The mustached Lemur in E11 replaces him)
• Nader Schasschule (Lemur who stages a failed coup against Goose)
• Who (Ladd's childhood friend; note that he actually appears in the anime but is never named. He's also characterized a little differently)
• (passenger who bought tickets off the Dolce owners, aka the couple who don't get on the train in E02)
• (second stowaway)

1931/1932

• Begg Garott (immortal who cameos in Episode 07)
• Henry (Daily Days info broker. Note that Nicholas Wayne in the anime is a composite character of LN characters Nicholas Wayne and Henry. All the sly and not-so-nice elements of anime-Nicholas are really from Henry)
• Roy Maddock (Scottish drug addict who is embroiled with Eve and Runoratas)
• Edith (Roy's girlfriend who is determined to save him from himself; waitress at the Gandors' jazz hall)
• Kate Gandor (Keith's wife)
• Nicola Cassetti (Gandor capo)
• Maria Barcelito, Alkins, Raz Smith (various assassins)

Characters characterized/motivated differently in the anime

• Manfred Beriam (wants to become immortal in anime; hates immortals in novels)
• Bartolo Runorata (lying about Dallas and trying to find him in anime; not trying to find him in novel or become immortal)
• Eve Genoard (nicer in anime, less of LN-Eve's internal struggle)
• Nicholas Wayne (see 1932 section)
• Firo Prochainezo (sort of: he's nicer in the anime whereas he's more blunt, negative, and callous generally in the novels)
• Luck Gandor (1932)

Spoiler-Zone: In-Depth Look

I may have been writing about this topic for some time, but I still had to pause and think about how to handle this section. How much detail should I go into? What changes should I include, and what should I leave out in lieu of the ep-by-ep discussion?
Well, considering that this guide is first and foremost meant to be a broad overview of the differences rather than a nitty-gritty breakdown, I'm going to try and focus on on the main plot changes and the hugest consequential scene changes. Again, for nitty-gritty changes, stick around for the discussion of episode-by-episode changes in the next section. For now, the order of this section is as follows: 1711; 1930; 1931; 1931-1932; 2001; OVAs.

1711

Okay, most light novel fans will point out the accents in the dub as...suspect. First off, Victor is an Englishman who was exiled from England for his anti-slavery/racism rhetoric. He should thus have an English accent, not...whatever the dub gave him. Eric Vale gives Huey an overhanded French accent. Putting the questionability of his accent's authenticity aside, we don't actually know if Huey came from a French village. Plus, Huey studied in Italy for at least six years.
Similarly, we don't know what geographical region Elmer comes from (he's described as looking 'northern European' at the very least), so him having an English accent is presumably ADR Director Tyler Walker making a judgement call on his name (probably did the same with Huey and Sylvie). Also, Elmer spent at least five years in Spain and then six more years in Italy in his youth.
Putting accents aside, here are some major changes:
Rules for Immortals: The rules for immortals are the same except for one crucial difference. In the anime, immortals can transfer information to other immortals by placing their right hand on the other's forehead. NOT THE CASE in the novels. In the novels, immortals can only transmit info to their linked homunculi via their left hand.
As an example, in the anime, Maiza shares half of the knowledge of the Grand Panacea with Gretto by transferring it via his hand. Szilard witnesses this, and then deliberately devours Gretto to receive that information. In the novel Maiza simply tells Gretto half of the recipe before thinking better of it. Szilard learns half of the recipe through eavesdropping, just like that, and then tries to devour Maiza in his bed to get the full recipe...only to mistake a sleeping Gretto for Maiza and accidentally devour him instead.
Another major point: Maiza talking about the man whom he, his father, and grandfather never saw age in the episode is a very weird scene because the man he is referencing is actually Dalton Strauss - a man whom Maiza studied alchemy under for four years (1707-1711) and shouldn't be referring to so distantly. In general, the scene is a huge question mark fo light novel fans.

Nov 1930

If you'll recall, the 1930 timeline condenses the events of two days and one night into one day and one night. This really messes with the chronology of events. The elixir's chain of custody is radically different, for one thing. Let's try and address this in an easy-to-digest manner.
First, I want to bring up the E01 scene with Firo and the beggar. In the anime, it clearly takes place after Firo becomes immortal – but in the novels, it takes place BEFORE. Firo knocks out the beggar, Assistant Inspector Edward shows up and reveals he was basically using Firo as bait to nab the beggar, and Maiza shows up to take Firo hat-shopping.
The thing is, the beggar is also crucially important to the 1930 timeline in one other aspect: the day before, he had murdered the blender who was responsible for perfecting Szilard's elixir (Barnes isn't actually making the elixirs in the novels). If he hadn't done that, then Szilard would have simply shown up the next day to devour the blender and harvest his knowledge of the recipe. The entire course of Baccano!'s history would have been altered.
It's also worthy to note that the beggar became a mugger only after Dallas and his goons coincidentally beat him up earlier that month. If they hadn't done that, he might not have turned to murdering, and thus might not have killed the blender and changed the course of history.
Anyway, the order of events is like this: Firo/Edward scenehat shoppingfireFiro rescuing Barnes. Now, in the LNs, Firo is actually carrying four bottles of alcohol with him for the party. While everyone else is down for the count, Firo sneaks a peek at Barnes' bottles and decides to switch out his liquor for Barnes. He replaces the elixir in Barnes' bottles with his regular alcohol and fills his bottles with the elixir...BAM and here we have the chain of custody completely different from the anime.
LN chain: Elixir moves from BarnesFiroParty. Anime: BarnesDallasGandorsDallasI&MParty.
So in the novels, the crate that constantly changes hands is carrying normal alcohol. This is connected to the altering of the chronology: Dallas and co. do kill Mike and the other Gandors during the Martillos' party...which Isaac and Miria depart from early, run into Dallas' group, and then rob the crate from them. The next day, they decide to drop off the liquor at the Alveare as a thank you gift to the Martillos for hosting them. THIS is when spying Ennis spots Maiza, and leaves to alert Szilard of Maiza's location.
On the way back, they run into Edward at the Coraggioso and learn of the Gandor men's deaths. They assume that Dallas' group were Gandors and that they killed them, and they then realize that the stolen liquor might wrongly implicate the Martillos as the ones responsible for the crime. Horrified, they head back to the Alveare to warn the Martillos of what's going on (so right now the Gandor bros are heading to the Alveare to talk to the Martillos about their men's deaths, and Szilard is heading to the Alveare to devour Maiza).
On the way to the Alveare, I&M come across Dallas' group carrying machine guns and talking about how they're going to get Ennis back. Miria thinks they must have broken out of jail (I&M never realize that Dallas' group was the one they stole the crate from; Dallas' group never realizes it either) for revenge, and she and Isaac run off to find and hotwire a car to take on the goons with. Of course, the car they find is Szilard's car.
Thus, the confrontation between Szilard and Maiza happens the day after the party, during lunchtime. Firo is PRESENT for this, and Maiza orders him to flee and tell Molsa (who along with Yaguruma and Ronny is not present) what's going on. Szilard tries to gun down Firo, but Maiza dives in front of the gun and blocks all of the bullets with his body.
Firo is immediately attacked by Ennis when he leaves (by the way, he wasn't looking for her to return her cufflink in the novels. She doesn't lose it. He followed her basically because he found her attractive). Bill, Donald, and Edward show up at the Alveare because of reports of gunshots, and Bill and Donald (who are part of the BOI's immortals department) confirm Szilard's death. Isaac and Miria think they're here to arrest the Martillos, and fire off guns and run away in order to lead the normal police officers away from the site. Like in the anime, they toss the Genoard fortune to passersby.
Oh, and Maiza also asks Firo to devour him in the alleyway. To my eternal fury, that doesn't make it into the anime.
That's the general breakdown of the major plot changes. There are various minor changes, and several LN scenes are either truncated (like Firo's induction ritual) or deleted entirely in the anime. All of the scenes with Edward are cut, of course (including the scene where he, Bill, and Donald confront Szilard's coterie of old men), and obviously the 2002 wraparound novel scenes are also cut.

Dec 30-31 1931

This is the timeline that's adapted the most faithfully by the anime, with most of the major changes falling into two categories: changes resulting from important major characters being cut from the anime; and general scenes that are deleted either for time's sake or for the sake of maintaining the established mystery. In this case, the main mystery is the identity of the Rail Tracer in the anime; since the anime doesn't reveal his identity until E09, it has to cut out a LOT of his PoV scenes in the novels as a result.
(We spend a fair amount of time in Claire's perspective in the novels, learning that he's crawling under the cars to switch off the car's electricity so he can kill people in darkness; that he's constantly returning to the conductors' compartment to perform the necessary scheduled light signals [that's why he appears near the compartment more than once in the anime], his opinion of Rachel, etc.)
Before we get to the main changes (i.e. from character cuts), it's worth noting that the anime's implication that Beriam knows about/is interested in Czes' explosives is not a novel thing. Also, Nice speaks super politely to everyone except Jacuzzi, and the train's engineers are a pair of elderly brothers who are hard of hearing. Hence why they don't catch on to all the gunfire and explosions for hours, and when they do Claire shows up and claims there's a horseback posse chasing them and they'd better not slow down no matter what.
Let's review our cut characters: Jack is the third gang member accompanying Jacuzzi and Nice on the train alongside Nick and Donny; Doctor Fred is a ex-WWI military doctor and passenger on the train. He earns Ladd's favor and uses Ladd's compartment to treat the train's injured regardless of faction at Ladd's invitation; Mr. Turner is an ass of a First-Class passenger from Rachel's past; Chef Gregoire is the head chef of the kitchen and a former colleague of Claire's from his circus days...
...Upham is a timid Lemur whom the anime replaces with a mustached man; Nader Schasschule is another Lemur who doesn't make it onto the train thanks to him staging a failed coup against Goose Perkins the day before; ...and then the two surprise characters and .
...I'll get to the last two, trust me.
Jack's biggest thing in the novels is that he is captured along with Nick by the Lemures, and when Ladd shows up and learns his name is Jack, assaults him solely to find out whether or not all Jacks are good boxers (yes, this was a pre-established point of interest for him). Once they're rescued Donny ends up dumping him in a random second class compartment...which turns out to be Ladd's compartment, which by this point Fred is now using at his invitation.
Ladd had run into Fred earlier, see, and recognized that Fred had the eyes of a man who wants to die. Ladd isn't too good with men like Fred (though women of this vein are exactly Ladd's type), and he ended up telling Fred to use his compartment. I should note that Fred (introduced as the Grey Magician) is actually the novel's red herring for Maiza's old friend (i.e. Czes) like Rachel is the red herring for Claire.
So Who and Lua show up in the compartment, and after some initial confusion Who assists Fred in treating Jack. Oh - Who is Ladd's childhood friend, and the White Suit who was captured along with Lua by the Lemures). Now, Claire actually happens upon the compartment (from where he is clinging to the outside window), and, when Lua notices him, is surprised that she isn't strongly reacting to him at all.
When Lua realizes that Ladd is going up against the Red Shadow from outside the window, she inwardly freaks out because she realizes that Ladd cannot beat him (she has weirdly accurate intuition). Fred recognizes the new life in her eyes and encourages her to act on it - and thus is the reason for why she ends up climbing onto the roof of the train later.
Moving on to Turner... Turner is the railroad executive responsible for a ten-year-old train accident for which he pushed the blame onto Rachel's father. He has no idea who Rachel is, but when she spots him on the train she is instantly full of hate. Now, Turner raises a scene in the dining car after the Ladd vs Lemures assault: he hurls racist and xenophobic epithets at Jon (Irish) and Fang (Half-Chinese) and is all around a humungous ass, until Isaac and Miria finally snap and rain hell and fury down upon him. Gregoire orders Jon and Fang to throw Turner out, and they do so with relish.
Turner wanders the corridors with increasing fear until he runs into , who's calling himself 'Victor Talbot' (yes, that Victor) and stowed away in the compartment that would have been Jacques-Rosé's had he decided not to get on the train in time (Jacques-Rosé and Rosetta are two more characters worth knowing about. If you know about those two, you are really goddamn deep into Baccano! lore).
, who spends a lot of the time on the train slinking around and looking for Czes, offers his protection services to Turner and leads him through the corridors. The two of them come across the corpse of the White Suit who preyed on Mary, and takes the corpse's rifle and hands it to Turner before abandoning him. Turner becomes increasingly paranoid, and when he comes across Rachel (who is resting due to her gunshot injury - which is in her thigh in the novels, not her ankle), prepares to shoot her for the sake of shooting anyone.
She reveals her identity after a heated confrontation, and then shouts for the Rail Tracer (who has been eavesdropping) to kill her before Turner can. Claire instead dislocates Turner's shoulders, but doesn't kill him at Rachel's request. He ends up giving Rachel a bloody half-torn ticket, which is the reason why the police later don't arrest her on grounds of, you know, stowing away. He also says that if he hadn't met Chané he may have fallen a little bit in love with Rachel.
Remember Upham? Upham is supposed to be the Lemur who runs away from Ladd after he ambushes the Lemures after his first fight with Chané. Upham ends up nabbed by Jacuzzi and Donny, who interrogate him for info on the Lemures before leaving him tied up in a freight hold. Upham is discovered and freed by , whom he then stabs out of fear and thus learns of . ( is on the train because he's heard that Szilard is back in New York and wants to find him).
The two of them decide to check out the conductors' compartment, where they discover the corpses of the Lemur and Dune. shows up and stabs Upham, who stabs back. prepares to kill Upham (because Upham has witnessed true self), but steps in to take the blade instead. He tries to drag off the train, tries to drag him down with him, but Upham pulls up in the nick of time.
Then Claire shows up and chastises Upham and for being in the conductors' compartment. He notices Upham's wound and is about to ask what happened when Chané's knife pierces through the wall and nicks his ear, and he climbs back up onto the roof...where of course he finds Chané and Ladd having their second confrontation.
Ah! That reminds me - the anime implies that Huey and Chané have some sort of telepathic connection, which is 100% not the case no way no how in the novels. The birds that appear during the Huey<->Chané scenes are likely a reference to Hilton, a novel character.
On the presence of and on the train...it was first hinted at in LN#12 (publ. 2007), revealed in the NDS game (2008), and then confirmed in LN#14. I don't know for sure if the gaiden novel included them or not.
Bonus soundbite of laughing in the NDS game! (It's an external recording from a fan; I wanted to extract the audio directly from the rom, but unfortunately the software is not compatible with my OS and I can't get Wine to cooperate with me).
Oh right...after Claire reunites with the Gandor bros, he and Berga end up brawling (which they tend to do) on the street. Keith watches on and, with the Runorata-Gandor feud in mind, thinks that this will be the last peaceful time they have for a while.
Czes also reunites with Begg that day - now, do you remember that he came to New York to devour Maiza after receiving a letter from him? Well, he had also received a letter from Begg, too - Begg is working for the Runoratas, and he's the one who arranged to buy Czes' explosives off him. Czes had planned on devouring him as well upon arrival.
Of course, Jacuzzi's gang stealing the explosives means that Czes is worried the Runoratas will come after him in retaliation - but Begg reveals that the money for the explosives came out of his own pocket and Czes has nothing to fear. Czes (who was looked after by Begg in the 1700s after he was orphaned) is naturally feeling pretty guilty for having planned to devour Begg at this familiar display of Begg's kindness towards him.

Dec 1931-Jan 1932

By far the most drastically changed plotline from the fourth novel to the point where it becomes a completely different plot.
In the anime, Gustavo is trying to muscle in on Gandor and Martillo turf like he is in the novels - though what the anime leaves out is that he's specifically trying to muscle in on the Manhattan drug market. Relevant to this is that Keith abhors drugs and prohibits drug trade on Gandor turf. Now, anime-Bartolo lies to Gustavo that Dallas has blackmail material on Gustavo for the deaths of Raymond and Jeffrey Genoard, which prompts Gustavo's search for Dallas.
This is obviously a lie on Bartolo's part since Dallas is at this point in time currently drowning in a riverbed - but in the novels, Bartolo doesn't lie in the first place since he has no interest in finding Dallas at all. He DOES NOT want to become immortal in the novels, just as Beriam actively hates immortals in the novels and is also not involved in the search for Dallas. The only person searching for news about Dallas is Eve, whom Elean actually tells the truth to about Dallas' fate rather than lying like he does in the anime.
What the Runoratas are actually searching for in the novels is a case containing Begg's powerful new drug prototype, which was stolen in transit by a very high Roy Maddock. Roy, once he comes down from his high and realizes what he's done, is understandably terrified of Runorata retaliation. Edith, despite an earlier argument with Roy, essentially rolls up her sleeves and prepares to dig Roy out of the hole he's found himself in.
Roy goes to the Daily Days for info, and Henry suggests that he use Eve as a shield against the Runoratas (in the anime, this becomes Nicholas suggesting that Gustavo use Eve as bait). Roy meets Eve at her place, the two of them go to Keith's house and meet his wife Kate, and then they are kidnapped by Claire in disguise and taken to the Daily Days.
Whoops, nearly started summarizing the entire book. Er, basically everything comes to a head when Gustavo leads a raid of the Daily Days headquarters in order to kill the Gandor bros. DDays evacuated in advance. Claire brings Eve and Roy to the DDays because he's working on Gustavo's orders. It turns out that Keith and Bartolo made an agreement in which the DDays operation would lead to Gustavo's downfall, because Bartolo is sick of Gustavo's crap.
Gustavo's hired assassins fight Claire, and Gustavo tries to kill Eve. Luck saves her and has a viciously brutal fight with Gustavo, in which he suffers plenty of injuries but also shoots Gustavo six times in the chest, etc. When Eve learns that Gustavo really was responsible for killing her father and brother, she raises a gun and tries to shoot him. No, seriously. Luck blocks the shot with his hand, and then stabs Gustavo in the throat with the jagged bone of his severed hand. Then he passes out. Gustavo survives, by the way.
Begg comes across Roy, whose hypersensitivity to drugs fascinates him. He holds a gun to Edith's hand and asks Roy to inject himself with the new drug prototype (which will kill him) so Begg can observe how he reacts (and the happiness the drug will give him). Roy makes Begg promise to not kill Edith, and injects himself with the drug to fulfill the deal. Then he smashes a window and uses the glass to slit his wrist, so that Begg won't get what he wants.
Begg, angry but also genuinely wanting to help Roy, tells Edith to get Roy to a hospital. He shoots himself in the head to give her the chance to escape during the regeneration process.
As you can see, the anime is almost completely different plotwise. The most basic reason I can fathom is that the 4th novel introduces several new characters that aren't in the 1930 and 1931 timelines. Staff probably wanted the anime to feel more self-contained and tightly interwoven, and stuck to using characters whom the viewer already knew.
Oh yeah, I'd like to also say that the bookshop scene in the anime with Firo and Luck is sort of a composite of two novel scenes: a scene in which Berga is gambling at the casino Firo manages and Firo complains about Berga potentially endangering Martillo turf considering that the Runoratas and Gandors are feuding; and the bookshop scene in which Luck is alone when the Runoratas kill him. He dies by having his throat slit rather than via a hit-and-run.
Yep, Firo offers to help out in the Runorata-Gandor feud in the anime, whereas he actively does not do that in the novels. See this. Like I said, anime-Firo is nicer than LN-Firo.
This also reminds me to talk about Eve's characterization changes. In later novels Eve seems to have softened into anime-Eve, but Eve in Vols 1 and 4 is...different. She honestly dislikes Dallas to some extent and recognizes that even if he's nice to her he's still kind of a terrible guy. She's also more conflicted about her faith than you might think, and angry at herself for having prayed all this time out of indecision and passiveness.
Perceiving her own selfishness, indecisiveness, and passiveness is what spurs Eve to act instead of pray in 1932 and run away from home to deal with things. When she hears how Gustavo unrepentantly killed her father and brother (I believe she also learns that her family was actually involved in the drug business, which horrifies her), she is filled with absolute hate and unforgiveness that drives her to raise that gun and shoot.
Luck obviously is not about to let her become a murderer, hence him blocking the bullet with his own gun. He later gives Eve a map to Dallas' location.

2001

The scene with Isaac and Miria...well, first of all - they're not stealing cell phones in the novel, (there's no guarantee they're back to thieving in 2001 anyway, considering that Isaac decides to give up his life of crime in 1934). They're also not wearing those groovy outfits, though through a series of misremembering about Japanese and Buddhist mythology they end up deciding to sew 108 bells onto their clothes (54 each) to symbolize their rebirth.

OVAs

Comparisons here are drawn from the fifth and fourteenth light novels, not the gaiden novel.
In this case a lot of scenes are fabricated and downright opposite to what happens in the anime. Like Graham's and Ladd's first meeting. It is SO antipodal to the novel scene - see, in the anime, their first meeting is antagonistic whereas their novel meeting is nothing of the sort. Ladd comes across some men roughing up Graham and takes them all on in a fight. Graham is so dazzled by the logic that Ladd spouts that he then and there swears to follow Ladd. See? Not antagonistic in the slightest. I'm NOT happy with the anime changing that.
Now, Sylvie is not present during the dominos party. She also does not reunite with Elmer in 1932: their reunion scene borrows dialogue from the fifth volume but is otherwise made up. They don't actually reunite until
As for Huey and Elmer's reunion scene, some of its dialogue is borrowed from Huey internally monologuing in LN#6 (in which he asks an absent Elmer what he would think of Chané). However, Huey and Elmer actually still have yet to reunite as of 2002 - they haven't seen each other since 1711.
Elmer and Ronny's conversation appears to be anime original, but it's delightful regardless.
Oh, that reminds me - Gustav and Carol's rainbow conversation is supposed to actually take place in 1934.
Firo also doesn't knock over the dominos in 1932. He does do that in 1933, but it's not accidental.
There are various other differences in the OVAs, including how Rachel is supposed to actually be wearing a dress when she meets with Czes and dines with Claire (which she does in the Alveare), Jacuzzi doesn't actually recognize Claire as the Rail Tracer in the novels, it's a random delinquent whom Graham hits, not Nick...
...Actually, speaking of, the anime does explain why Jacuzzi's gang is now living in the Genoard manor on Millionaires' Row, but in a very rushed and offhand manner. So, Jon and Fang are informed by Gregoire that as a result of the gov't covering up the FPF incident they're all being fired. Since Gregoire recognizes their skill, he decides to use a connection of his to recommend them for jobs as private bartender and chef to Eve. He then gives them 100 servings of stew, which they take to the clinic where Jacuzzi is recovering...
...A clinic that happens to be operated by Fred. Raz Smith, Roy Maddock, and Jack are convalescing there alongside Jacuzzi at the same time, and Upham receives treatment for his wound there. Elmer also shows up after Upham leaves to ask about Szilard. (Jack's the white-haired guy who clambers onto Jacuzzi's bed in the anime).
So Jacuzzi's gang pours into the clinic to eat the stew, and Nice and Nick drop their bowls in shock when Chané enters the room. They didn't know beforehand that the retrieval team pulled her out, unlike in the anime.
Ah, right - Jon basically asked Eve if she wouldn't mind if some of his friends lived in the manor to help look after it as pseudo-housekeepers, and she agreed. Of course, he neglected to mention how many of them there were or that they were criminals.
Nearly forgot! The reason for why Jacuzzi got a tattoo is also different. In the anime he gets it so that he'll stand out as much as Nice, facially speaking. In the novels, he recognizes that Nice is terrified that she'll never be able to recognize anyone again (her remaining eye was injured and has terrible vision) and thus gets the tattoo so that she'll always be able to recognize him no matter what. Both reasons are good, but I prefer the novel one.

Episode-by-Episode Differences: Where to Find Them

Two options, here. The first option I present to you is the Baccano! Wiki: after months of on and off work I have finally revamped all sixteen episode articles, which included rewriting all 16 full recaps, adding recap and preview summaries, and, most importantly, adding sections recounting the anime/source material differences in each episode. I'm not done with adding screenshots to the last four episodes but the recaps and differences sections are basically ready to go. You can access them here.)
I should say that I didn't include every single minor detail, and that I am most definitely fallible and may have gotten information wrong or left information out. I can only apologize if I have, and if you notice, ask that you correct or add the info as needed.
Speaking of getting information wrong, I also wrote episodic write-ups for the 2017 and 2016 /anime Baccano! rewatches. My write-ups for the 2017 rewatch are a deliberate improvement upon the 2016 write-ups, in which I did more than once misremember information and leave out important other information. Please keep that in mind should you choose to read my 2016 write-ups.
The differences noted in the write-ups are less thorough than the wiki versions.
I know that this is insanely long and I apologize for that. I don't know if anyone will actually read this/read this all the way, but I hope that it can prove useful to at least one person. If you're interested in reading the source material or knowing more about the series, /Baccano now has a wiki with a FAQ, links to the official translations, a reading order (published not chronological for the love of God), and some resources. You might find it a good starting place.
Whew. I was worried I wouldn't get this out in time, since last night I was performing in a Samhuinn celebration and didn't come back home from the second after party until ten AM thanks to a kind stranger who was out walking her dogs. Spent the last few hours doing a lot of writing, though the planning for this guide started a few weeks in advance.
Once again, happy Baccanovember and happy 10 year anniversary of the anime adaptation! Here's a drawing Shinta Fujimoto (mangaka of the 2015 Baccano! manga adaptation) did of LN characters Gabriel and Juliano for Halloween yesterday.

by Hunter S. Thompson IN the early Fifties, when San Juan first became a tourist town, an ex-jockey named Al Arbonito built a bar in the patio behind his house on Calle O'Leary. He called it Al's Backyard and hung a sign above his doorway on the street, with an arrow pointing be- tween two ramshackle buildings on the patio in back. At first he served nothing but beer, at twenty cents a bottle, and rum, at a dime a shot or fifteen cents with ice. After several months he began serving hamburgers, which he made himself. It was a pleasant place to drink, especially in the mornings when the sun was still cool and the salt mist came up from the ocean to give the air a crisp, healthy smell that for a few early hours would hold its own against the steaming , sweaty heat that clamps San Juan at noon and remains until long after sundown. It was good in the evenings, too, but not so cool. Sometimes there would be a breeze and Al's would usually catch it because of the fine location — at the very top of Calle O'Leary hill, so high that if the pa- tio had windows you could look down on the whole city. But there is a thick wall around the patio, and all you can see is the sky and a few plantain trees. As time passed, Al bought a new cash register; then he bought wood umbrella-tables for the patio; and finally moved his family out of the house on Calle O'Leary, out in the suburbs to a new urban- ización near the airport. He hired a large negro named Sweep, who washed the dishes and carried hamburgers and eventually learned to cook. He turned his old living room into a small piano bar, and got a pianist from Miami, a thin, sad-faced man named Nelson Otto. The piano was midway between the cocktail lounge and the patio. It was an old baby-grand, painted light grey and covered with special shel- lac to keep the salt air from ruining the finish — and seven nights a week, through all twelve months of the endless Caribbean summer, Nelson Otto sat down at the keyboard to mingle his sweat with the weary chords of his music. At the Tourist Bureau they talk about the cooling trade winds that caress the shores of Puerto Rico every day and night of the year — but Nelson Otto was a man the trade winds never seemed to touch. Hour after muggy hour, through a tired repertoire of blues and sentimen- tal ballads, the sweat dripped from his chin and soaked the armpits of his flowered cotton sportshirts. He cursed the "goddamn shitting heat" with such violence an such hatred that it sometimes ruined the atmosphere of the place, and people would get up and walk down the street to the Flamboyan Lounge, where a bottle of beer cost sixty cents and a sirloin steak was three-fifty. When an ex-communist named Lotterman came down from Florida to start the San Juan Daily News, Al's Backyard became the English-language press club, because none of the drifters and the dreamers who came to work for Lotterman's new pare could afford the high-price "New York" bars that were springing up all over the city like a rash of neon toadstools. The day-shift types — sports people, proofreaders and make-up men —usually arrived en masse around midnight. Once in a while someone had a date, but on any normal night a girl in Al's Backyard was a rare and erotic sight. White girls were not plentiful in San Juan, and most of them were ei- ther tourists, hustlers or airline stewardesses. It was not surprising that they preferred the casinos or the terrace bar at the Hilton. All manner of men came to work for the News: everything from wild young Turks who wanted to rip the world in half and start all over again — to tired, beer-bellied old hacks who wanted nothing more than to live out their days in peace before a bunch of lunatics ripped the world in half. They ran the whole gamut from genuine talents and honest men, to degenerates and hopeless losers who could barely write a post- card — loons and fugitives and dangerous drunks, a shoplifting Cuban who carried a gun in his armpit, a half-wit Mexican who molested small children, pimps and pederasts and human chancres of every description, most of them working just long enough to make the price of a few drinks and a plane ticket. On the other hand, there were people like Tom Vanderwitz, who later worked for the Washington Post and won a Pulitzer Prize. And a man named Tyrell, now an editor of the London Times, who worked fifteen hours a day just to keep the paper from going under. When I arrived the News was three years old and Ed Lotterman was on the verge of a breakdown. To hear him talk you would think he'd been sitting at the very cross-corners of the earth, seeing himself as a combination of God, Pulitzer and the Salvation Army. He often swore that if all the people who had worked for the paper in those years could appear at one time before the throne of The Almighty — if they all stood there and recited their histories and their quirks and their crimes and their deviations — there was no doubt in his mind that God himself would fall down in a swoon and tear his hair. Of course Lotterman exaggerated; in his tirade he forgot about the good men and talked only about what he called the "wineheads." But there were more than a few of these, and the best that can be said of that staff is that they were a strange and unruly lot. At best they were unreliable, and at worst they were drunk, dirty and no more dependable than goats. But they managed to put on a paper, and when they were not working a good many of them passed the time drinking in Al's Backyard. They bitched and groaned when — in what some of them called "a fit of greed" — Al jacked the price of beer up to a quarter; and they kept on bitching until he tacked up a sign listing beer and drink prices at the Caribé Hilton. It was scrawled in black crayon and hung in plain sight behind the bar. Since the newspaper functioned as a clearing-house for every writer, photographer and neo-literate con man who happened to find himself in Puerto Rico, Al got the dubious benefit of this trade too. The drawer beneath the cash register was full of unpaid tabs and letters from all over the world, promising to "get that bill squared away in the near future." Vagrant journalists are notorious welshers, and to those who travel in that rootless world, a large un- paid bar tab can be a fashionable burden. There was no shortage of people to drink with in those days. They never lasted very long, but they kept coming. I call them vagrant journalists because no other term could be quite as valid. No two were alike. They were professionally deviant, but they had a few things in common. They depended, mostly from habit, , on newspa- pers and magazines for the bulk of their income; their lives were geared to long chances and sudden movement; and they claimed no allegiance to any flag and valued no currency but luck and good contacts. Some of them were more journalists than vagrants, and others were more vagrants than journalists — but with a few exceptions they were part-time, freelance, would-be foreign correspondents who, for one reason or another, lived at several removes from the journalistic establishment. Not the slick strivers and jingo parrots who staffed the mossback papers and news magazines of the Luce empire. Those were a different breed. Puerto Rico was a backwater and the daily News was staffed mainly by ill-tempered wandering rabble. They moved erratically, on the winds of rumor and opportunity, all over Europe, Latin America and the Far east — wherever there were English-language newspapers, jumping from one to another, looking always for the big break, the crucial assignment, the rich heiress or the fat job at the far end of the next plane ticket. In a sense I was one of them — more competent than some and more stable than others — and in the years that I carried that ragged banner I was seldom unemployed. Sometimes I worked for three newspapers at once. I wrote ad copy for new casinos and bowling al- leys. I was a consultant for the cockfighting syndicate, an utterly cor- rupt high-end restaurant critic, a yachting photographer and a routine victim of police brutality. It was a greedy life and I was good at it. I made some interesting friends, had enough money to get around, and learned a lot about the world that I could never have learned in any other way. Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along a senseless odyssey. It was the tension betweeen these two poles — a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other — that kept me going. 

from The Rum Diary, by Hunter S. Thompson Copyright © 1998 by Gonzo International Corp. Simon & Schuster paperback edition 2003, pp 1 - 5
For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or [email protected]

Australia - Travel and Itinerary Wiki

Backstory - I'm a US expat and travel hacker living in Sydney with my wife. We've been here for 6 months and seen a lot of the same questions about the area get posted almost daily. I'll do my best to concisely run through a number of topics here, whether it be about getting here or what to do, in the hopes this makes future questions a little more tactical.

NOTE: PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK IF YOU WANT TO CONTRIBUTE!

Update 1 - Added booking windows and intra-region travel info.

Getting Here

Cash

Great deals to be had lately in economy. Prices have consistently dropped $800 or so from mainland USA on full service carriers. These sales are pretty frequent. If you have Chase Sapphire Reserve card a $800 cash ticket is just over 53,000 Ultimate Rewards points with FULL points earn on the ticket itself. That's a great deal if you don't care about sitting up front. Business class is significantly more expensive. This is one of the most sought after premium class routes on the planet and with that prices tend to stay high and award availability low.

From the East Coast of the US

I highly recommend AA to DFW and Qantas DFW-SYD. The route is served by a comfortable A380 (good economy, dated 2-2-2 J though) and loads are typically intentionally kept low heading East to maximize cargo capacity. That means you can realistically expect a empty middle seat if you plan well. On the eastbound side it's still possible but less likely. Also, if you fly on low days you may score an upgrade for $1,000 - $1,200 USD per person, per way, via Qantas' bid for upgrade program. Really the major benefit here is connections going further into the US - minimizing travel time on either side of that long leg is incredibly more valuable and comfortable.

From the West Coast of the US

Any carrier works here, chose based on your preference. Every domestic carrier serves the route (UA/AA/DL) and most are newer aircraft (sans Delta's aging 777s). You can also find good deals via Fiji as well as via Auckland on Air New Zealand. I personally don't like breaking up the trip any more than necessary so I don't like those options.

Points

Oh boy, this is a good one. Generally the rule of thumb is simply this, PLAN AHEAD IF YOU WANT TO FLY UP FRONT! The only exception to this is Virgin Australia who sometimes releases J space < 2 weeks of travel. That's absolutely rolling the dice though. Economy wise you can typically find space on at least one carrier so that's less of a topic, and as above, with cash prices being so low it can often be less worthwhile to book the award itself. Up front you really have a few options.  
US Carriers  

Carrier	Booking Window	Comments
United	338	Good J hard product, meh soft product. Awards open up here and there but typically it's very limited to last minute redemption. Price-wise, they're not the cheapest, but not the most expensive.
AA	331	probably the best hard produce from the group. Same meh soft product (they're US carriers after all). Pricing is also okay, but availability is next to none.
Delta	331	bad products, hard and soft. The seats are old, the service is older. Price is highest BUT you will often find saver-level seats on Virgin Australia (a partner) < 2 weeks out.

  Australian Carriers  

Carrier	Booking Window	Comments
Qantas	353	meh J product (2-2-2). Good/Great F. Service is also good, very polished. Availability in spurts, but okay price via AA.
Virgin Australia	330	best seat (the Business) and I'm a sucker for a bird with a bar. Conversely, terrible availability unless you're looking within 2 weeks or right at the window.

  Asian Carriers (generally better availability)  

Carrier	Booking Window	Comments
Korean	360?	my personal favorite. Great airline, great US service, and a transfer partner of Chase. And most importantly, they tend to be quite generous with their availability.
Cathay	360	old favorite in the points world. Not the cheapest option but if you have the points then you'll often find availability through HKG when you book at the window. Great seat, classic service, and AMAZING lounges in HKG.
JAL	330	like ANA, in light of recently US carrier devaluations these guys have become a viable option through Tokyo. Some recommend their 777 SkySuite as the best J product out there.
SQ	355	Suites are always a favorite but lately it's pretty impossible to not pull your hair out before actually confirming that route. J availability tends to show up here and there. Recently devauled though so use tool to find best option based on points available.
ANA	356	mentioned in JAL topic, just a solid all around option if you have the points.

  Award Tools Look, I know a lot of carriers were mentioned above and you're probably going well, that's all great, but how do I ultimately choose one given the fact that I have a trip 1+ year out and a few options? That's where the below sites come in handy. They will tell decipher award charts and help you distill down the airlines that you can realistically fly given the points that you have.

• AwardAce
• AwardHacker
• RewardStock

Once In The Region

Intra-Region Travel

• Staying in the South/South East (SYD/BNE/MEL/PEetc.) - Avios, Avios, Avios! SYD-MEL, for example, is 4,500 Avios one way on Qantas. This is an amazing sweet spot.
• Cross Country Travel - This is tough. Economy prices aren't terribly high, but the business class product on these flights is top notch. Virgin flies "The Business" A330 and Qantas flies an equivalent A330 through the continent and they really cater to those premium travelers. I still haven't come up with the best way of doing this with points though local frequent flyers swear by the points upgrade to get up front.
• Across the Ditch (To/From NZ) - My recommendation is Air New Zealand. I recently booked this and spent 25k Krisflyer (Singapore) for a RT flight on Air New Zealand. I definitely consider that tremendous value, though discount carriers operate these routes and you can find deals (I would consider $300 round trip in economy to be a good deal).

Sydney-Specific

Rule of thumb, if you have 5+ days in the region than I suggest going outside of Sydney. It's a cool city, but there is SO much more to see. Scroll down for details, but while in Sydney here are a few suggestions:

• Taronga Zoo – One of my favourites. A great place to see all the local animals that the US doesn’t have. This is a FANTASTIC first day activity and will help you fight jet lag!
• Bondi to Cogee Walk – A beautiful self-guided walk down the coast. It’s just a walking path but it's a must do.
• Harbour Bridge Climb – Climb atop Sydney’s most famous bridge to see the city like nowhere else. Younger people love it, older people tend to avoid it. I haven't done it and don't plan to.
• Sydney Opera House – The most famous landmark in Sydney. We could see a show or just do a tour. Up to you.
• Manly Ferry/Beach – Manly beach is amazing and the surrounding area is filled with bars and restaurants. This would take up the majority of a day. The ferry there and back is a mini sightseeing tour in and of itself.
• Sydney Bus Tours - Highly recommended as it takes you all over the city and even out to Bondi. Hop on/Hop off style so you can wander if you like a stop.
• Sydney Boat Tours – Just like the bus tours, the boat tours allow you to get off at stops and explore. A great way to maneuver around the water and hit the main points of interest. Could be a good way to see Manly, too. Do NOT do a dinner cruise, the food is bad and it's just a waste of time.
• The Rocks – Located right in the harbour, the Rocks is an area with numerous restaurants, a famous market and Australia’s oldest pubs.
• Darling Harbour – Like the Rocks, DH is another touristy area on the water that has a ton of restaurants and bars. Also has a Ferris wheel, an enormous fish market with tons of fresh seafood, and a casino.
• Sydney Seaplanes – Name says it all. I absolutely LOVED the "Sydney Secrets" tour.
• Featherdale Wildlife Park – Never been here but it comes highly recommended. Basically it is an animal park where all of the animals are loose and you can interact with them. All of the Australian animals will be there. It is a little bit of a drive but definitely doable.
• Blue Mountains – A national park that has a bunch of beautiful views and is much different from the water you get all around the city. They have a similar bus tour to all the attractions which lets you hop on/off at will. A train will take us directly up there if you’d like to go.
• Hunter Valley – Australia is known for its wine and HV is the closest region to the city.

Places to Stay

• Park Hyatt Syndey - go to place for best of the best stays. On Cirqular Quay with views of Opera House.
• Westin Sydney - downtown, good location (10 min walk from quay), nice hotel.
• Hilton Sydney - downtown, same as Westin.
• Intercontinental Double Bay - ritzy area of town, looks to be a nice hotel. I live nearby so I'm biased - it's a good spot but out of the hustle and bustle.
• Marriott - also downtown, 5 min from quay. Lobby recently redone, rooms are supposedly very nice, too.
• Four Points Sydney - closer to Chinatown but still downtown. 20 min qay to quay. I've heard it's nice.
• There are tons more, this is a whole topic in an of itself.

Regional

Are you outdoorsy?

• Queenstown, NZ (~3 hour flight) - The end all be all go-to place for being outdoors. If you like being outside/hiking/etc. this should absolutely be on your list See extreme activities section.
• Tasmania -
• Blue Mountains - see above.
• Royal National Park (~30 min from Sydney) - great national park with some beautiful hiking spots. Not huge, but easy to get to and is a good excursion.

Do you like food/drinks?

• Melbourne (pronounced Melbun) - Where to begin? Really the best way of thinking about Sydney vs. Melbourne, which is a HUGE rivalry by the way, is to put it simply as > Sydney has the sights whereas Melbourne has the culture.

Extreme activities?

• Cairnes (pronounced Cans) - the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Backpacker town (if you want a nicer area near the GBR see Port Douglas) and full of bars and nightlife. If you're younger, want to hang out with some peers, and go diving, go here.
• Queenstown - the extreme sports capital of the world or something like that. Has it all - skiing, skydiving, bungee jumping, rafting, etc.

Animals

• Featherdale Wildlife Park - Near Sydney, see above section.
• Taronga Zoo - see Sydney section.
• Austrlaia Zoo - Up near Sunshine Coast, not familiar with it.

Cultural

• Melbourne - see food.
• Uluru - Where Ayers Rock is. Great for the "Outback" experience. Can fly (3 hrs) from Sydney, not/nothing else there though.

Beaches/Relaxation

• Lord Howe Island - limited access island. Super exclusive. Best value is booking out and using Qantas points to get there. 16k or so round trip for $1,000 flight.
• Hamilton Island - right off barrier reef's southern end. Beautiful islands with Whitsundays islands nearby.
• Port Douglas - the nicer way to get to the Great Barrier Reef (as opposed to touristy/backpacker Cairns).
• Bondi/Bronte/Coogee/etc. - Eastern beaches. All near Syndey. Bondi to Coogee walk will show you most of them.
• Northern Beaches (30 - 45 min car ride from city). More laid back beaches outside of the city. Slower paces, friendlier locals.

Example Itinerary

Assumes 10 days down under.

• Day 1 - Land in SYD, drop bags at hotel, change, and head straight to Zoo. DO NOT NAP. Try to stay awake until 7p or so. Good luck.
• Day 2 Sydney - Hop on/Hop off bus tour. Do Bondi to Coogee walk when you get to Bondi. Figure out what you like and don't like along the way.
• Day 3 Travel to Melbourne - Dinner downtown.
• Day 4 Melbourne - Coffee, walk around CBD, Great Ocean Road maybe?
• Day 5 Travel to Queenstown, NZ
• Day 6 Queenstown - Outside
• Day 7 Queenstown - Outside
• Day 8 Travel to Sydney
• Day 9 Sydney - Opera House tour. Ferry to Manly for lunch/afternoon.
• Day 10 Depart Sydney