"The Murphy System" on Montana Railroads, early twentieth century

[RiverGirl]

Hi Everyone, I'm an historian of the American West, and while tracking a Montanan named Florence Miller, ca. 1910, I came across a newspaper article that mentioned she was employed "in the Murphy system on the railroad line."  I'm trying to figure out what the "Murphy system" was. Was it a series of restaurants at train stations in Montana that hired women to wait on tables? Was a dining car company that hired women to serve food on trains? I've heard of "Harvey Girls" but never heard of the "Murphy system." Any light you can shed on this mystery would be welcome. Thanks so much!  - RiverGirl

[NP Eddie]

My suggestion is that you contact the Montana Historical Society. Another possibility would be the Northern Pacific or Great Northern Historical Societies. I have never heard of the "Murphy System" in the many railroad books I have read.

Ed Burns

Retired NP-BN-BNSF from Minneapolis, MN.

[DSchmitt]

Murphy Method of Instruction

https://books.google.com/books?id=7tU-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=railroaD+Murphy+system&source=bl&ots=ZkTIEsp7XS&sig=EMRQoW0c5Wtz6DQ8t8GkE32EnAI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEUQ6AEwCGoVChMI__WFj9aiyAIVA5QNCh3xnQfe#v=onepage&q=railroaD%20Murphy%20system&f=false

 

[wanswheel]

http://www.restaurantwarecollectors.com/forums/showwiki.php?title=John-H-Murphy

Murphy System named for John H. Murphy ran station restaurants and hotels and published post cards of scenes on the Milwaukee Road.  The 1910  Official Guide lists J. H. Murphy as “Manager of Hotels and News Service” for both the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound.

https://books.google.com/books?id=BpQ1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA701&dq=%22j+h+murphy+%22+%22chicago+milwaukee%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAGoVChMIkdrrvpekyAIVS3I-Ch1-iQWl#v=onepage&q=%22j%20h%20murphy%20%22%20%22chicago%20milwaukee%22&f=false

[Deggesty]

Thanks, Mike. Do you do anything else except search for the rare information?

I found the instruction quite interesting--and noticed that there have been many changes in the signals since then. For instance, the semaphore signals are lower quadrant, a clear light is the signal to proceed, marker lights are now red only, headlights are now on in daytime as well as at night.

But--the idea of showing fledgling train service employees what they may see and explaining what each aspect of signals tells them is superior to simply showing the signals in a rule book and a timetable.

[jeffhergert]

Many old rule books, up until about 1950 or so, had drawings of locomotive fronts, tenders, car (both freight and passenger) and cabooses with the proper placement of class or marker lights/flags.  The signal aspects were shown on actual drawings of the various signals, not just abstract depictions of signals.

Jeff

[Wizlish]

Book review of the original Murphy System handbook, from 1899:

https://books.google.com/books?id=iuY1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA492&lpg=PA492&dq=%22stereopticon+method+of+examining+and+instructing+railway+employees%22&source=bl&ots=aWNKokAC3E&sig=mF7uTfdRi_0_KRUUstJ8xaGLgSE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBWoVChMIzZPUrcmjyAIVBXA-Ch2CjAys#v=onepage&q=%22stereopticon%20method%20of%20examining%20and%20instructing%20railway%20employees%22&f=false

I have not so far found a copy of the book in online/scanned format for download.  It might be an interesting project to contact one of the book-scanning organizations and have them look for this or other handbooks that are not yet well known.

 

Be interesting to  see what effect or influence the Murphy System might have had on Frederick  Taylor's scientific management ideas.  It is interesting, but (alas!) unsurprising, to learn that its adoption faced an uphill battle.

 

[wanswheel]

Even further off-topic, the Murphy third rail system.

https://books.google.com/books?id=2TlOAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA6-PA5&dq=%22murphy+third+rail+system%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMIpLOyp5OkyAIVAg0-Ch1v8AuA#v=onepage&q=%22murphy%20third%20rail%20system%22&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=4JJVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80&dq=%22murphy+third+rail+system%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIpLOyp5OkyAIVAg0-Ch1v8AuA#v=onepage&q=%22murphy%20third%20rail%20system%22&f=false