Pete, Did it have something to do with a crane with a broken neck? Archie
----- Original Message -----
From: Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 7:26 PM
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Re: Thoughts on FRED Working under a flag
It means working under an assumed name. In the days prior to Social
Security Numbers and any other reliable means to check on a person's true
identity a
railroad employee would assume a name other than his own. That employee had
to be careful when he met someone in his new place of employment that he had
known in his "past" so that they didn't call him by his real, or previous
"flag" name.
BTW this brings up another item from "back in the days"....The Service
Letter. This was a letter given to a "rail" when he left employment with a
carrier. It would be known as a "letter of reference" today...
A favorite trick of an enterprising "boomer" would be to make up or
"purchase" favorable service letter giving him a favorable reference. It was
best
to have one from some obscure "pike" far far away from where the boomer was
seeking employment...By the time the new employer had checked the reference
said boomer would probably be ready to move on. There were those
entrepreneurs
even in those days who made a business of providing fake service letters from
obscure or non existent railroads
Here's a little quiz question.....Suppose a boomer brakeman applied to the
local trainmaster of the ABC railroad with a service letter from a legitimate
railroad giving him favorable reference, but after looking at the letter the
TM would find some "reason" to turn down the potential "new hire"...He could
tell that the letter said "do not hire this man". even though the letter
seemed legit and spoke favorably of its owner. How could he tell????
If you are a reader of the old RAILROAD MAGAZINE or acquainted with railroad
hiring practices in the 1880-1910 period you ought to know....
How about it Leo...This one ought to be in your "stack of stuff"
Pete
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