Railroad Agent

[BaltACD]

Ulrich

What were the responsibilities of a station agent in a smaller community? Was he/she responsible for all aspects of running the station i.e. selling tickets, unloading of baggage cars, station maintenance etc? Just curious.. station agents often lived in accommodations above the station, suggesting that the job involved alot more than 9 to 5 and was more of a lifestyle commitment. 

In the mid-20th Century - YES.  The only exception is that the Agent generally lives in a house in his community.  The Agent was also frequently involved in Railway Express Agency business and was frequently the Western Union Telegraph representative in town.

 

Note - when I try to make this EXACT post in the Trains forum - I get a "

Sorry, there was a problem with your last request!

Either the site is offline or an unhandled error occurred. We apologize and have logged the error. Please try your request again or if you know who your site administrator is let them know too.

Error.