Station employee career path

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 23:21:39 EST 
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject:  Re: Station agent duties and tasks 

Dr. Scheer,
 
Thank you for your explanation of the various types of
station agent.  In the hospital setting we use the
term "career track" to show on paper the progression
of how one can advance up the organizational table. 
Advancement is usually by experience, training, and
education. Would you and others on this list comment
on what would have been the "career track" to station
agent.  Surly there wasn't a book "Station Agent for
Dummies" for night time study.
 
Chuck Stewart
Bahama, NC


January 19, 2005

Hello, Chuck:

There were several approaches that people may have
followed for becoming a non-train crew employee,  then
following upward paths in the organization.  For this
discussion, I'll focus on the early and mid-20th
Century.

One should remember that "career progression" equated
to following seniority rules for clerks, agents, and
telegraph/telephone "operators."  After becoming an
employee, most promotional opportunities arose through
published vacancies and a bidding process. 
Consequently, as with careers today, there were
elements of chance and circumstance that shaped any
individual's career.

One was the child of a current station employee or a
non-relative kid who hung around the station.  While
railroad operating rules generally prohibited
non-employees in operating offices --aside from public
areas of stations-- there are plenty of instances when
this occurred.  It only became an issue when there was
an accident or injury when the carrier officially
disavowed any responsibility for the child's presence.
 Generally, like railfans today, much can be learned
through observation prompted by occasional
explanation.  It was an informal apprenticeship even
though the youngster may not have realized they were
learning a craft.

In another email, I mentioned many tasks a station
agent would perform.  Not included among those was a
need to periodically service switch lamps, train order
lamp, station lighting fixtures, and hand lanterns. 
These consisted of refilling the fuel pot, trimming
the wick, cleaning the lens or globe, wiping the
exterior with an oily rag, relighting, and adjusting
the wick.  They also had to be gathered, then put back
into place.  This dirty task was a candidate for
paying a local child a nominal amount to do the work
while the agent stayed relatively clean to deal with
other responsibilities.  I've occasionally wondered
how many kids climbed a 30-feet train order mast to
fetch the train order lamp or put it back into place,
either on dare or for a penny.  The same was true with
burning trash, sweeping the station, and so forth.  In
rural communities, there were few job opportunities
aside from being a farm hand.  Aside from good pay and
steady work, railroad employment was appealing because
the rails stretched to points beyond the town that
captured the fancy of trapped youth.

The paper work and accounting might be learned in a
similar way.  Allowing a child to walk down the track
to write down the initials and numbers of cars on a
spur or totaling accounts introduced them to these
basic record-keeping functions.  Where telegraphy was
in use, learning the code was practiced with the
operator until the novice recognized the most
frequently used patterns such as the office call or
time.

A second entry path was for someone to enroll in a
telegraphy or railroad clerk school or correspondence
course.  While most people attending a business school
studied secretarial skills, many of these also offered
courses in basic bookkeeping and station clerical
functions.  While not titled "Station Agent for
Dummies," that was precisely the content of the
textbooks used.  Graduates of these programs could
apply to the Supervisor of Stations and eventually
receive an assignment.  The title of this functional
supervisor varied by railroad; for example on the RF&P
all agents, clerks, and operators reported to the
Manager of Mail and Express.  During World War
employee shortages, many women entered station work
following this approach.

Perhaps others will provide descriptions of other
entry methods of entirely new employees stepping onto
the bottom rung of the career ladder.  Once employed,
many personnel stayed with a single carrier since
better assignments were rewarded by years of service. 
However, there were also itinerant employees called
"boomers" who with mastery of basic skills
--especially telegraphy-- could move from carrier to
carrier, hire on and be working the same day.   They
might also leave just as quickly.  Most of these
employees accepted "swing" shifts that rotated, or the
night shifts.

As side notes, a couple of station employment living
conditions should be mentioned.  Prior to the 1930s
and the arrival of a 40-hour work week, railroad
station staff had a day trick and night trick to
choose from.  These twelve-hour tours often ran from 6
AM to 6 PM, and 6 PM to 6 AM six days a week.  Second,
I don't think very many N&W stations had living
quarters on a second floor of a station, but this
arrangement existed on other railroads.  Examples on
the C&O included Lee Hall and Providence Forge
stations.  When this was the case, the agent certainly
had a ready made situation for any children to make
the agent's office an extension of their household. 
Work and personal activities such as child care
blended somewhat in this environment; what better way
to keep children from mischief by giving them chores?

This is far from a complete treatise on the subject,
Chuck, but is a start.  Harry Bedwell cartoons in
Railroad Magazine prior to the 1950s yield a
romanticized, nostalgic view of some of these aspects,
yet there is some essential truth in scenes depicted. 
I don't think anyone has put together a compendium of
that cartoonist's work.  It would be a nice project
for someone with a good collection of these
periodicals, a scanner, and time to accomplish the
work.

Best wishes all, and call me Frank.

73,


=====
Dr. Frank R. Scheer, Curator
Railway Mail Service Library, Inc.
f_scheer at yahoo.com
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in the former N&W station on VA rte 723 
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