Hi, I´m Christian from Germany,
how was the clothes (what´s color ets.) engineman and the brakeman on the NYC and the Toronto,Hamilton and Buffalo railway in the 40 ´till ´50 (in the steam time)?Thanks for answer me soon!
Hi Christian, nice to see the the TH&B has a fan in Germany. I spent my early childhood living across the street from the TH&B’s coach yard on Hunter St. in Hamilton. While I can’t say for certain what was common attire, I do recall seeing lots of blue or pinstriped denim bib overalls: I think that these were pretty common clothing for railroad employees all across North America. Unlike in Europe, most locomotive and freight train employees did not wear uniforms as such, although the overalls were so common that they were a “de facto” uniform. Any durable clothing would have been suitable, usually with a cap of some sort, work gloves, and usually some kind of scarf or bandanna. If you’re a fan of the TH&B, then you’re probably also aware that the NYC and the CPR were both part owners of the line and that locomotives from both roads were also used on it, particularily on passenger trains. I recall NYC and CPR Pacifics and Hudsons, in addition to the TH&B’s own locos, and also run-through passenger cars from both roads. While the TH&B diesels first started arriving in the late '40s, steam lasted until 1954, the last being two ex-NYC Hudsons. Here’s a shot of a couple of TH&B geeps in action on my layout. Both models are modified and remotored Athearns and were featured in Paint Shop in the February 1980 issue of Model Railroader.
Wayne
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Adding to the above, enginemen would almost always wear a cap, puffed up (not snug like a baseball cap - more like a French chef’s hat with a bill) made of that same blue-and-white pinstripe material. Checked flannel, shirt (long sleeves, color optional,) heavy gauntlets and heavy, steel-toed boots, plus a chain across the chest connecting to the watch in the left shirt pocket (Made it easier to get at the watch in a hurry) completed the outfit.
Passenger conductors and brakemen on the NYC wore a Navy blue suit, white shirt, black tie and hard cap. The gold watch chain across the chest was very much in evidence.
Hope this helps
Chuck (who models train crews in black uniforms)
While the gold chain might be used by a uniformed psgr crewman the satndard method of carrying a watch w/ bib overhauls in frt service was to use a short(about 4 or 5 inches) braided leather fob w/ a small loop at one end and a larger loop at the other. The drill was to run the small loop of the fob through the lanyard of the watch and then run the large loop throught the small one which leaves the watch attached to the small loop. The bib overhauls had a small pocket w/ verticle opening over the left breast of the bib w/ a button hole adjacent to it. The large loop went through the button hole and then the watch went through the large loop. You now have the fob attached to the button hole by the large loop and the watch attached to the fob by the small loop. The watch goes into the vertically oriented pocket. To check the time the thumb is slipped under the watch fob and the watch comes out of the pocket and falls, face up, in the palm and is then easily slid back into the watch pocket.
Check out the overhauls at JC Penny or Sears or where ever and you’ll get a better idea of how this highly functional fashion accessory works.
Ohmigawd, I’ve been censored.!!! The little string of asterixs replaces a word I used referring the that part of an article of clothing that covers the upper chest which is also a word to describe an area of female anatomy. OOOPS
Here’s a (black and white) pic of an engineer in a fairly standard hickory-striped coverall with cap (also notice the heavy gloves…steam engine controls could get HOT).
http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/engineer.Html
Here’s a more recent pic of a retired engineer in traditional outfit - and yes, it was not uncommon to wear a shirt and tie under the coveralls/overalls etc.!! Many times the engineer and fireman would wear “normal” clothes underneath their overalls or coveralls, including pants, shirt and tie. (However the railroad logo on the hat etc. would not have been common in the actual steam era.)
http://www.painetworks.com/pages/fq/fq0445.html
A blue and white hickory-striped hat:
…and here’s a pic from c.1899 of Casey Jones and his fireman.
Gee, Jim, I’m not female but I thought I had those things on my upper chest, too. This PC nonsense is going way too far!!! [V]
Chuck
Ya whoever edited that must be a real boob.
Steel Toe boots were a no no! If ya get your foot ran over there would be nothing left of it anyway!
When I was with NS. The standard wear was bibs over jeans, long sleaved shirt, hat and boots with a defined heels. Railroad watch. and work gloves.
The pics that were shown, looks to me that the engineer has Coveralls on instead of bibs. This would be a better choice since the coveralls cover all of his clothes.
I like to see pics of past railroad workers. Kevin
A braided leather fob would probably be less likely to come apart under stress than a metal watch chain. More than a few engineers and firemen had their poorly secured watches sucked into the firebox by a draft that was strong enough to also suck in a loosely held coal shovel.
Enginemen wearing gloves - how effete! Here in NSW, a bloke who turned up for a day’s work on the footplate wearing gloves would have been laughed out of the depot! Mark.
Canadian steam locomotive crew wore gloves to keep their hands warm! It gets cold up here. (smiles)
Good point! It never gets that cold down here, so I didn’t consider what crews in a cold climate would need to wear. Cheers, Mark.
Hummm not wearing gloves. Thats just asking for trouble. What about you are climbing into the engine. Ya grab onto the railing and start the climb. Well sliding your hand up the grab and you come across a sharp gouge and cuts your hand. Hummmmm tell your train master your not wearing gloves or bleed to death? We alway wore gloves, doesnt matter if you are riding up in the engine or you are down on the ground, jumping on and off the cars. Heck I even think its stated in the rules book that you have to have a pair!!! Kevin
Good point, Kevin. You wouldn’t believe the number of “he-man” steelworkers that I’ve seen working without gloves: that, coupled with an inability to grasp the concept of “hot” leads to some painful “accidents”. Like the ref always says, “Gentlemen, protect yourself at all times.”
Wayne
I’ve never cut my hand on a handrail in over 30 years on the job, so I wouldn’t regard it as a serious risk. I have to wonder how poorly treated and maintained your locos are, if the handrails are regularly gouged and nicked. Your rule book may well prescribe the use of gloves. Mine doesn’t In mine there are paragraphs that warn against the wearing of gloves in some specific circumstances. Cheers, Mark.
Wayne, I don’t think it’s is a matter of machismo or being a “he-man”, but one of differing cultures and work practices. I haven’t made any definitive study of the subject, but I will note that, generally speaking, enginemen in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the parts of Europe I’ve seen don’t wear gloves. I’ve always thought of it as an American thing. I personally wouldn’t wear gloves for most jobs, as I reckon they compromise your dexterity and “feel” for the task. Cheers, Mark.
So steam engines only get hot in America?? I don’t quite get it.[D)] The railroaders wore gloves to protect their hands. The fireman was shoveling all day. Both the engineer and firemen were handling metal controls that could get extremely hot. Not to mention having to wear something tied around your neck to keep redhot cinders from flying down the back of your shirt.
<> In fact, contrary to what you see nowadays in movies (and tourist/museum railroads) real steam era crewmen wore heavy overalls or coveralls (over their regular clothes) and heavy jackets, hats, gloves and goggles to protect themselves from burns…which was a liability no matter what the temp was of course. Try dressing like that on a 100F day in Georgia, even if you aren’t a few feet away from a blazing fire !!
Jim! I’m shocked! [:O]
Before you get your foot run over there’s a lot more train is going to have hit a lot more of you…
I started on the track just after high visibility (bikini style as they were later known) bibs became mandatory. A lot of the “tougher” staff/knuckle draggers would say that they wouldn’t wear them as they “looked stupid”. I always told them that they looked a lot more stupid with a train inserted in their caboose.
Steel to caps protect your toes from injuries in the same way that Kevlar pots protect troops’ heads from wounds… would anyone suggest that troops shouldn’t wear their helmets?