BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A brief respite for this fellow aboard an ex-SANTA FE diner, in 1972.

Without talented chefs and other kitchen staff, "dinner in the diner" certainly would not "be finer", not by a long shot, back in the heyday of long-distance passenger trains.......

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/atsf-d1378jpa.jpg

(courtesy: fallenflags)

[N4 Jamaica]

NYO has found an interesting page about the given names of the porters. I'm glad the real names were placed up there.
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Identifying staff can be problematic. I think Public Service streetcars had a placard holder maybe giving the identification number of the motorman. In recent decades, we have had the nuisance of everyone walking through the school with plastic name tags on a necklace. Bend over a shredder and get grabbed!
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In the supermarket, the clerk has the first name, Brittany or Jason, on the badge.
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Memory says that the maids cleaning rooms at Hilton Hotels asked to have their names as Ms. Smith rather than Juanita. At our small public library, no staff wears tags, so I don't know their names, though they know mine from often seeing my card.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A timeless image taken at Fort Worth.......

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/atsf-bctop-awp.jpg

(courtesy: fallenflags.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Joe:

On a few AMTRAK trips to Chicago and Orlando (1985-1987) I was able to have a few (brief but interesting!) talks with a few veteran AMTRAK sleeping car attendants (I am sure these hard-working fellows have long since passed away)

"James", a big, jovial, football player-type, had worked for the PRR for many years, and had even worked on the "BROADWAY"; "Lester", who reminded me of an old-school college professor, worked NYC trains for a number of years (he, not surprisingly, spoke of the "CENTURY"!)

The other fine fellow I remember talking to was "Calvin", who truly had a distinct air of dignity about him; he was an old-time B&O/C&O man, and certainly proud of it.

I only wish I had remembered that I had my SONY cassette recorder/player with me then, so I could have recorded a few of these conversations with these fine gentlemen of another era.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Bravery beyond the call of duty.......

In 1925, when his train derailed, porter Oscar Daniels lost his life when the front vestibule door of his derailed car flew open, letting in scalding steam.

Mr. Daniels was able to close the door, but only after suffering serious burns.

He was pulled out of his derailed Pullman, and, when a doctor tried to examine him, he insisted that he's treat the seven-year old child nearby.

Sadly, Mr. Daniels lost his life.

Afterwards, the Pullman Company renamed his car after him, the "OSCAR DANIELS"; this was the only time a porter was so honored.

Talk about guts......and dignity.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In days of yore........

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/atsf-hilevel.jpg

(courtesy: fallenflags.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In one of the earliest (1929) "OUR GANG" comedies with sound "RAILROADIN'"*, "Farina" and his pal "Harry", are seen riding a turntable (with an engine just behind them) in the Los Angeles yards, looking at all the locomotives in the roundhouse stalls.

"Farina" (in all innocence) tells "Harry" proudly:

"When I grow up, I'm gonna change my name to 'George' and be a porter!"

*This "ol-timey" film is TAILOR-MADE for ANYONE into classic "live-on-the-spot" steam action! (GREAT sounds for that time, as a bonus!)

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

These two interesting photos date to 1967, and show an E-L lightweight sleeper, coupled to a UP car, as part of a troop train at Fort Hood, Texas......

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/pax/tioug.jpg

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/pax/el-tioug-gea.jpg

(courtesy: fallenflags.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just slightly off-topic, for a moment.

Though almost everyone has heard of "The Legend Of Casey Jones" ("The Brave Engineer"), only the most astute historians would know the name of "Simm Webb".

Simm was Casey's African-American friend, the hard-working fireman aboard the "Cannonball" on the fateful trip "to the Promised Land" back in 1900......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The DL&W was long known for the excellence of its dining car service; the white-jacketed staff of this elegant, electrically-lit diner indeed help to make "each meal a delight" to a certain "Miss Phoebe Snow", as she "traveled by 'Road of Anthracite' "...........

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/dlw-pc-din-arp.jpg

(courtesy: fallenflags.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Pullman Employee Records"......

https://www.newberry.org/pullman-employee-records

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

From "Rising From The Rails" (Larry Tye).......

".....the tale of those Pullman porters, is, most of all, a story of America-of how one group, disadvantaged, and powerless, learned to triumph in the sometimes brutal era of American democracy. It is a story of black men, not just riding the rails, but rising from them....."

"NYO"

[traildriver]

[traildriver]

The Hi-Level cars were built in 1954 by the Budd Company exclusively for the Santa Fe. A few additional cars were built in 1964. These cars were the most luxurious ever built for a coach train. Their design inspired the Superliner cars that were later built for Amtrak. Amtrak, added a bilevel sleeper to the mix.

Those Hi-Level lounge cars were still running for Amtrak, as late as two years ago on the Los Angeles/Seattle Coast Starlight, in the guise of "Pacific Parlor Cars", an exclusive diner-lounge reserved for sleeping car passenger's. Now all the Hi-Level cars have been retired from service...

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Regarding AMTRAK equipment, once the last of the time-honored "AMFLEET" cars disappears from the roster, the last vestige of "classic" AMTRAK will have vanished; their distinctive tubular design (like the original "METEROLINER" MU trainsets) seemed a perfect fit for the tight confines of the Hudson River tunnels.

One of the AMTRAK sleeping car attendants ("James", ex-PRR porter) I talked with many years ago, told me his favorite cars were the "Heritage" cars (I was right there with him on that!")

I still remember him telling saying: "It ain't gonna be the same when they pull all these old cars out of service."

Then he grinned, and added "I'll be long retired by that time, so I ain't gonna worry!"

One thing that HAD to have made porter's jobs a bit easier was the retirement of the classic heavyweight "open section" Pullmans; though an agile porter could make up a berth in the blink of an eye, I'm sure that they didn't mind NOT grappling with berths!

Speaking of open-section Pullmans, oddly enough, in the early 1960's, the E-L still had several old open-section Pullmans on the revenue roster, eight in all,

These hulking veterans were both ex-DL&W and ERIE Pullmans (some were relettered "ERIE-LACKAWANNA"), and were of different configurations.

They saw service at least into 1964.

Just imagine how the dedicated porters aboard those cars, so long ago, made their seemingly never-ending work look so easy.........

"NYO"