Fwd: [CBQ] Commuter train personnel

[qutlx1@aol.com]

As they say in the NFL "upon further review" I'll add one more possibility on the staffing in Larrys dinky photo.

After blowing the photo up the guy in the baggage section does seem to be dressed as a trainman less the jacket and hat. So he is probably the middle man who moved up there to handle the newspapers as I described earlier in general. RR"Charlie" Charles could be an extra collector working the middle to cover for the man who is handling the papers. I also think this may be the case as Charlie is both physically and in seniority older than the rest of the crew so he could hold the preferred extra collector position.

I am not inclined to go digging right now in the files,but I seem to recall there were either 5 or 7 extra collector positions. They were all taken off in the 1980s as the "shorts" pretty much disappeared from Cicero,Western Ave,Halsted,etc.

 

Leo Phillipp

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To:	cbq@yahoogroups.com
Subject:	Fwd: [CBQ] Commuter train personnel
From:	QUtlx1@aol.com
Date:	Thu, 2 Aug 2012 12:25:11 -0400 (EDT)
Full-name:	QUtlx1

Larry,

 

Again a nice shot !

 

What I am describing was suburban train crew consists until the early 1980s. First let me say first that the Condr in the picture(first man on the ground is Dave Hicks) then the next man back is RR Charles who was a character and a half and also wrote a short paper book of his RR adventures. He started out as a switchman on the IHB.

 

On the "dinkies" minimum train crew was a Condr and two brkmn(officially classed as collectors which had a slightly higher rate of pay than a passenger brkmn.). They would split ticket collecting between them.In the picture you posted the baggage section of the power car would handle newspapers,company mail and checked baggage.I am not sure the man in the doorway is a working employee as while there was a seperate baggagemens roster and the postion was a promotion above brkmn but below Condr with a commensurate rate of pay; I am not aware of seperate baggamens postions by the time of your photo on the dinkies.This man may be a "deadhead" riding home. Also note he is not giving a highball,which to me confirms he is not working the train. Other photos I've seen, the man in baggage section does give a highball. By this time period the "baggage work" was the "middle mans" responsibility. He generally went up to the power car and took off his jacket and hat. As explanation each postion on a dinky was bid and fixed,you were either the Condr,extra collector,middle man or rear man. Only a few non rush hour trains had a baggage car. By the late the early 70s they were gone and one job handled company mail from a double deck.

Going way back there was also express and mail service in full baggage cars.

 

For rush hour trains making many stops there were extra collector postions that roamed between trains at specific times handling portions of cars between certain points. They would literally get off and on at stops in the burbs. These were preferred jobs . Skip stop rush hour trains had the standard 3 man crew and could handle the ticket work after (eastbound) or before (westbound)the outlying stations.

 

Finally I'll make a general appeal......I have written an in depth future BRHS Zephyr article on Mail,Baggage and Express service on the dinkies but would love to include a photo of a trainman loading or tossing off newspapers or baggage,etc to round out the article. I have other photos of baggage cars on dinkies in CUS and on line but an action shot would really complete the article. 

 

Leo Phillipp

Former Asst & Local chairman of Aurora,IL UTU Lodge 171 and safe keeper of the historical lodge records from 1890-1970s.

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To:	CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject:	[CBQ] Commuter train personnel
From:	"Larry" <lsallee@yahoo.com>
Date:	Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:34:48 -0000
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I just processed and added this image to my gallery, and looking at the employees visible in the photo, I got to wondering about a couple of things. Might be pretty dumb questions here for somebody who's been around railroads all his life, but I realized I just didn't know.

I notice one visible trainman for each car. I assume this would be a conductor and 2 brakemen. Would there always be the same number of trainmen on every commuter train, regardless of size (even with much larger trains during rush hour)? Was there a separate class of employee that would have been ticket collectors, or would those have always been a conductor/brakeman?

What exactly was the purpose of the baggage/coach and its employee (I assume the guy with his head stuck out the door is an employee)? Mail? Newspapers? I did notice a newspaper truck backed up to the station in another photo.

Larry Sallee

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