As a relief agent/operator in the 1950's, I worked almost every CB&Q office on
the Beardstown division. The standard typewriter was an ancient all caps
Underwood machine used for waybills, freight bills, railway express bills and
Western Union telegrams. Interchange reports and bookkeeping forms were
handwritten using pencils and regular one-sided carbon paper. Train orders
were always hand written on green (form 19) or yellow (form 31?) onion skin.
Five copies with double-sided carbon paper between each sheet of onion skin and
a tin plate under the fifth sheet. Writing was done using a metal stylus. Two
copies with clearance for the front end (Engineer and Brakeman) and two copies
with clearance for the waycar (Conductor and Brakeman) and 1 for the file.
Orders were handed up by hand using a open ended Y shaped rack strung with a
sheepshank knotted string. Real fun standing a couple of feet from the track
to hand up orders to an M4 or F7 doing 50-60 MPH then wait in the blowing dust
and cinders to hand up to the waycar, especially at night. At least that's the
way I remember it.
Bob
Seniority 3/2/51
----- Original Message -----
From: PSHedgpeth@aol.com
To: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 1:52 PM
Subject: Re: [BRHSlist] Fw: [n_scale] Dispatcher Phone recordings
John
As one old guy to another....I remember the old all cap typewriters...I think
that I or my dad actually had one...don't have it any more...Seems they were
called "billers"...all the items the agent typed in on a freight bill or
waybill were always in caps.
You probably remember that there was a time when the typewriter came into
more widespread use that it was against the rules to use the typewriter for
train
orders....
Also during my younger..much younger days when I was watching the OPs copy
train orders I was fascinated by why the carbon paper was put in upside down
and
how that "stone thing" (stylus) could write...when it didn't have any ink in
it.
The OPS at Langdon always used a fairly heavy metal backing to put under the
last copy to provide a firm base..That's probably the way it was done
everyplace, but it's just another old memory..very definite.
Pete
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