Yard conductor

[NW Mailing List]

Mr. Musgrove:   He would have worked at Portsmouth Yard more than likely.
Wheelersburg had only a team track beside the depot.  

A conductor is in charge of the business of a train, that is the picking up
or setting out of cars in a train.  He manages the business of a train,
whereas the engineer is in charge of driving the train safely and
successfully from point A to point B.  A yard conductor was in charge of
trains or a train within the yard limits or terminal limits of the yard in
general after it was delivered to the yard by a road crew.  He would have
been in charge of breaking down received trains and the building of trains
to be dispatched from the terminal.  He would have been in charge of any
local that worked within the terminal picking up and setting off cars on
local sidings or industries. 

The cap badge was a common item for crews in the early 1900's with
conductor, brakeman or trainman badges for passenger brakemen in use on
hats/caps.  In the early days the badge was applied to a derby hat for the
conductor for freight trains.  They were used through the 1930's regularly.

Gary Rolih
INFO at N&WHS

-----Original Message-----
From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 8:32 PM
To: Nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Yard conductor

 Hello all,
  My wifes Grandfather worked for the N&W at either Wheelersberg or
Portsmouth Ohio. In some of items that was given to me was what looked
like a hat band. The metal band is about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide.
With Yard Conductor stamped on it.
    I was wondering what a Yard Conductor job was? Unforutanly he is no 
longer with us and I was asked not to ask questions unless he started 
talking about work.
 Any insights would be helpful and welcome. Thank you for any respones.
 Sincerely,
John Musgrove
Indianapolis, Indiana



________________________________________
NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
To change your subscription go to
http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1392 / Virus Database: 1520/3882 - Release Date: 09/07/11