Jim Crow laws & railroads

[Jones1945]

3rd rail

That was, and now again is, a very sad chapter in our nations history. I fear we are destined to repeat it if we don't pull our heads out of our nether regions. I am a free-thinking person, I don't align myself with any political party, but when I see foul, I call foul. Whatever happened to the so-called "UNITED STATES"?  I mean, UNITED means "Together", correct?  It is a shame.. As a veteran I never thought that I would be ashamed to call myself an American. But, it's getting very close to that. Closer every day...........

Todd 

I really appreciate your genuine sharing, Todd. Internet is still a strange thing for me, sometimes when I searching for informations about railroad history during the war, it show me something I didn’t expect to see; some sad and depressing history about the States during 40s to 60s. I never expect typing some keywords related to trains in the search engine could lead me to “Philadelphia Insane Asylum abuse” etc…… All these Streamlined Engines and trainset were so spectacular and charming, but in the corners of a dining car on the South Wind or somewhere in the country, there were so much injustice and suffering......

[Trinity River Bottoms Boomer]

Sad but true Todd.

As a Vet (US Army Transportation Corps 1964-1967) I served my country with Pride together with Afro-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other great Human Beings.  In 2018 our naton is as divided (if not more) than it was on the eve of the outbreak of the War Between the States in 1861...

...and Jim Crow is alive and well today too, be it in sports, or in a Starbucks.

Then we have the Native Americans who were put in Reservations.  Reserved for what anyway?

I have always respected EVERY railroader regarless of race color code religion or nationality be it in the US of A or former USSR.  They shared a common love for railroading just like I did on the ATSF SSW or Deutsche Bundesbahn!  You bet, I switched in the land of automatic couplers in Texas as well as screw couplers in Germany. 

Some of my best buddies on DB in Deutschland were from Turkey no less, and believe me, it was FUN FUN FUN...all the way!

 

 

[erikem]

By coincidence I happened to spot of reprint of an ad on the rear cover of Traction Heritage Vol 2 No 3 (May 1969). Theme of the issue was "Selections From 1931 Electric Railway Journal" and the ad appeared in one of the 1931 issues of ERJ.

Advertiser was National Pneumatic Company and the theme of the ad was "fourfold advantages of Atlanta's Treadle Cars", were the the treadle conrolled opening of the rear exit doors. The 4th advantage was:

One-man cars, by segregating the races, have practically eliminated racial friction in Atlanta's street cars.

The ad did not go into the nature of the racial tensions.

Two of the photos in the ad show white passengers leaving by the front door and "colored" passengers exiting via the treadle equipped rear door.

 

[Miningman]

[erikem]

That is the ad I was referring to, thanks for posting.

[Miningman]

Not a problem, I had assistance. 

[M636C]

Some of my best buddies on DB in Deutschland were from Turkey no less, and believe me, it was FUN FUN FUN...all the way!

I remember seeing the immigrant workers from Turkey in Germany in the late 1970s. They held a lot of the jobs on large passenger stations. You just didn't want to ask them a question in bad German.

But more relevant to this thread is that most of them were ethhnic Kurds who are still treated badly in Turkey today. The Turkish armed forces are fighting a war against Kurds in northern Iraq who have declared independence from the dysfunctional Iraqi government. Why: because they might support Kurds within Turkey who also want independence.

Turkey is pretty much a dictatorship now. It's good that many of its aims are the same as the West.

Peter

[Trinity River Bottoms Boomer]

Peter, so sad but true...and to add insult to injury, in 2018 in the United States, the Dream invisioned by the late great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. still hasn't come to pass.

[wjstix]

Democracy is Coming - to the USA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-RuR-qO4Y

 

[Trinity River Bottoms Boomer]

Good thing DEMOCRACY is on the way.  We're living out Orwell's 1984 today!