Did the compartments/rooms on the early passenger trains have locks?

[mobilman44]

Hi,

For whatever reason, I got to thinking about train travel in the 30s-60s and was wondering if the private compartments (etc.) had locks - and if so were keys issued or ???

Kind of an offbeat question, but I've never read/heard reference to locking compartments when traveling..........

Thank you!

[nyc#25]

No, there were no locks.  There was a better class of people traveling in those days.  The Pullman portion of the train was for FIRST class people only.  No coach types were permited to enter.  This was enforced by the porter, Pullman conductor and the railroad conductor.

 

[MMLDelete]

Do Amtrak compartments have locks inside? I cannot remember. I have a faint recollection of being concerned that ours didn't. (We've done three coast to coast trips.)

Maybe the east coast equipment did not, but the western cars did?

[BaltACD]

nyc#25

No, there were no locks.  There was a better class of people traveling in those days.  The Pullman portion of the train was for FIRST class people only.  No coach types were permited to enter.  This was enforced by the porter, Pullman conductor and the railroad conductor.

With having been 60 years since I rode Pullman on trains.  I think there were 'privacy locks' that could be activated by patrons inside the rooms, only, much like bathroom door locks today.  The Porter had a means to undo the privacy locks when necessary in an emergency.

Rooms could not be 'locked' while partons were using the dining car or lounge cars.

[Deggesty]

I never rode overnight in a heavyweight car, but all the lightweight car rroms had locks on the inside--which the porter could open from the aisle if necessary. One of the joys of bein sick in the night in a roomette was waking up, unlocking the door, backing into the aisle, raising the berth and then the lid of the toilet before letting go. Thankfully, the one night I was sick I managed to make all ready before spewing. Some roomettes had cutaway mattresses which allowed the passenger to stand inside before lowerering or raising the berth.

And, rooms in Amtrak sleepers have locks on the inside.

The only rooms which provided a key for passengers I have occupied were in Renaissance sleepers--perhaps European compartments have such locks?

I have noticed in the one heavyweight that I occupied (in daytime), but I do not doubt that the rooms also had locks on the inside.

[BaltACD]

Needless to say - Section sleepers only had the heavy curtins to provide privacy - and they could not be 'locked'.

[mobilman44]

Thank you all, the answers make sense to me.

The comment "better class of people" is just so true in my experience (I'm 75).  

[ORNHOO]

I recall seeing a promotional video when VIA introduced the Prestige class to the Canadian some years ago. One of the features shown was that the bedroom doors were equipped with (modern hotel style) magnetic card locks.

[Deggesty]

Perhaps this is not the proper thread, but several years ago, a television show had a family traveling (as I recall) from Los Angeles to New Orleans by train--and they hada key to their room door. When I saw this, I thought of the ignorance of the writer of the show.

[SeeYou190]

mobilman44

The comment "better class of people" is just so true in my experience (I'm 75).  

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I think this is a case of looking through rose colored glasses back at the past.

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I have done a lot of research into 1954, and from what I have learned, people were not a better class of individuals back then, not at all.

.

-Kevin

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[BaltACD]

SeeYou190

 

mobilman44

The comment "better class of people" is just so true in my experience (I'm 75).  .

I think this is a case of looking through rose colored glasses back at the past..

I have done a lot of research into 1954, and from what I have learned, people were not a better class of individuals back then, not at all.

-Kevin

People are people what ever the age and 'yesterday was always better than today'.

That being said, in the 50's and 60's people 'dressed' to travel.  Tee shirts, running shorts and flip flops were not worn by the traveling public.  The 'People of WalMart' had yet to be invented, as WalMart had yet to be invented and the 'Mom & Pop' corner stores proliferated around most communities.  Half a century ago humanity faced a different reality than we now face in the 21st Century.

[mvlandsw]

Not all Pullman passengers were First Class People. I was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas in the late 60's working in the Transportation Department. Prisoners who completed their sentence in the stockade and received a dishonorable discharge were provided transportation to their home town. I got to decide what mode that transportation would use. In a perhaps misguided attempt to give the railroads some passenger revenue, I put them on a train if at all possible. In some cases with overnight travel this would include 1st class accomodations on name trains.

Mark