What is the proper way to way the uniform? ive seen pictures where they have a vest and the coat is buttoned. other pictures where the vest is worn and the coat is unbuttoned. And is it proper to war just the vest in summer time or even at all without the coat? i know just a shirt and tie is starting to become acceptable summer attire on some railroads.

Tony,
At the Mid-Continent Rwy. Museum in North Freedom, WI we try to be as formal as possible but fortunately our Superintendent of Operations will allow us to take the weather into account. Minimum would be white shirt & tie but that's normally only the 90F degree and up days. If I'm wearing my vest it will be buttoned. Personal choice, but to me the open vest flapping looks worse than no vest.

Since tomorrow will be our first day in the 30's since last spring and windy I plan to wear a long sleeve white shirt, vest, coat, overcoat, thermal liner in my hat and maybe even a layer under the dress pants. Gotta love Fall Colors trains and fall weather in Wisconsin!.....mld

A good policy is to have only the actual Conductor wear a conductor's badge, was on a fan trip once where all the coach attendants were wearing Uniforms and Conductor's badges.

27 Conductors and 7 sacks of mail.

What a mess, check with the Conductor, OK which one?

-Hudson

From the Good Old Days;
"Uniform jacket must be kept buttoned except when collecting tickets"

Years ago we took the cue from the suburban passenger crews about 10 miles away.

Dark blue trousers, light blue shirt, no jacket, no vest. Shirt was short-sleeved, no tie, open collar. And a dark blue bell-shaped cap. You can get the cap from a firm catering to firefighters. Only the conductor had a badge reading "Conductor." My footgear was polished 12" boots. [my Drill Sergeant was right: polish your boots and they become waterproof and last forever]

If you did wear a tie, it was a dark blue clip-on. Clip on? Safety. If something (or someone) grabs a knotted tie, they have you. If they grab a clip-on, they have the tie.

Phil Mulligan

Back in about 1975, I was crossing western Canada on Canadian Pacific's Canadian. The interiors of the old Budd equipment were getting a little worn, but everything was clean and the crews maintained the best CPR practices learned from nearly a century of service.
While enjoying a meal in the dining car, somewhere on the Prairies, a brakeman walked into the car, just passing through. He neglected to remove his cap and the dining car chief gave him a stern and public chewing out - "Don't you ever come into MY dining car again without removing your cap!" The young brakie turned a grayish colour, removed his cap, and made a quick exit.
Somewhere in BC, there was a crew change and a young brakeman passed through the lounge area of the dome car. He was smartly uniformed and did remove his cap. However, he had on a pair of crusty old steel-toed work boots. The conductor asked him about them. He said that was all he could find when he was called and that he was rarely called for passenger service. There were some sour looks but the young lad carried on.

The Chicago & North Western commuter operations required a White Shirt, vest, pants and jacket in the winter. Summer uniform was a short sleeve white uniform shirt (originally a White Chicago police shirt with two additional holes added for the horizontal name badge) and the standard uniform pants. Jacket was optional.
Uniforms were available in three weights as I recall. Heavy material for winter, a medium weight and a “Tropical” weight. There was a matching hat, although it was more a military style, not the traditional pillbox style.
You supplied your own black dress shoes and a dark tie.

We just had some discussion here about this a few months back, and someone pointed out that vests intended to be worn without a jacket are different than those to be worn with a jacket. The later have the back panels made of a smooth shiny material to reduce friction with the jacket. I would imagine back in the day wearing one of these without the jacket was likely regarded about the same as working with your underwear showing.

I am still a trainmen trainee so bare with me. Cuyahoga valley scenic railroad following uniform policy is black dress slacks white shirt with collar, clip on tie black (reason for clip on is if you get snapped by equipment) black shoes/boots polished (I wear 5.11 Tactical paratrooper boot with polishable toe) vest black and conductor cap with respectable tag. (Conductor, breakman,) no more then 3 label pins on uniform.

Don’t forget the buttons! A proper railroad uniform has brass or silver buttons with the railroads name on them. There used to be venders selling them at the different railroadinia shows in the Midwest.

I wore a real bow tie for that reason. I also wore my gold Order of Railway Conductors watch fob with the enameled letters in white, green and red. We wore a full sack coat, vest and seasonal cap. At TVRM, coats were worn during the cool months. Some conductors wore lightweight coats during the summer. Coats could have company lapel pins and had brass buttons. Company issued name tags were required. Safety glasses and steel toe shoes or work boots with a heel were mandatory. The winter caps were required to have two gold braids-no gold braids were required on the summer caps. Conductors were expected to provide themselves with a railroad standard pocket watch. I wore a Waltham Crescent Street watch or an Elgin B.W. Raymond.

As long as you can perform your duties in a safe and efficient manner while looking clean, presentable, and professional, I’d say you’re doing fine. If your organization has a prescribed uniform or policy, default to that. If you are looking to replicate a specific uniform or “impression”, I’m sure you can locate photos and information to help you.

I wear a three piece conductor uniform that I purchased from Transquip several years ago. It closely resembles one worn on the New Haven. When preparing the train for the day’s work, securing it after, and any deadhead moves in between (no passengers), I generally shed the jacket in warm weather. The vest keeps my tie from getting me into trouble. When I’m in the public eye, I’m in full uniform and ready. I also believe in one conductor. Everyone else should wear devices identifying them such as “trainman”, “brakeman”, or “ticket collector”. I have have a second hat with a NYNH&H ticket collector badge on it for that purpose. Mileage may vary.

Buttons can be found and if not, they can be reproduced. Waterbury Brass Button is still in business and still has many of their old dies. They made buttons for A LOT of companies! Give them a call with your needs. They will check the condition of the die and run an order for you if they don’t already have them in stock. I needed a set of buttons for a Revenue Cutter Service uniform several years ago and got them from Waterbury. The Revenue Cutter Service was the US Coast Guard’s identity from 1790 to 1915. They still had buttons in stock.

I carry a Hamilton railroad pocket watch with my grandfather’s BRT fob, one of his seniority lapel pins, a period correct public timetable, and correct ticket punch. While some of these items serve a practical purpose, they all help to educate the visitor. I find that people enjoy an explanation of these items. Otherwise, they’re just insignificant trinkets. I don’t force the information upon them, but if they seem interested, I’m happy to accommodate.

From a historical standpoint, none of the pictures I have ever viewed of New England railroad passenger crews ever showed them in just a vest, regardless of the season. I have to surmise this had more to do with cultural norms at the time than specific regulations. Men shined their shoes and sat through mid-summer ball games in jacket and tie. The B&M is an interesting case study as their final uniform as simply a blue two button blazer where patches were sewn on to the lapel and pocket. While fashion norms were changing, one has to wonder if the union negotiated this so if the company was to shed its passenger service, you would at least have a ubiquitous blue blazer useful for a number of different occasions.

Hi All,
just thought I would pass this tidbit along...…
I was ridding on AMTK cal zepher and took my que's from the conductor.
I boarded at a non attended station, the conductor asked me to climb onboard in one of the sleepers, traveling in coach and as a wearer of hats, I was escorted thru the diner to the lounge car where we could sit down and process the ticket to ride. As we entered the dinning car he, and I, removed our hats, the hats were returned to the usual resting place upon exiting the dinner. The conductor thanked me for my courtesy and I learned a great lesson.

To this day my hat is in my hand as I pass thru or entering a dinning car.

C W

Brent,
Plenty of folks from New England would lay naked on a tile floor sweating in front of a box fan before they’d reach up to turn on the air conditioning too. I know a few and you better call them before you go over to their place if you know what I mean.