Wow, Leo, thanks so much for the great explanation - I really appreciate it! I
unfortunately don't recall any photos of mine that might have an action shot of
baggage handling, but if I happen to find one down in the deep musty archives,
I'll let you know right away.
Thanks again,
Larry
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, qutlx1@... wrote:
>
> 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.
> I just processed and added this
> <https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bYvnkpm0LLUDtSEWHIoKVtMTjNZETYmyP\
> Jy0liipFm0?feat=directlink> 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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