Conductor Badges and Uniforms

Have the badges that conductors wear on their hats always feature a steam engine? I think it's a nice touch, much nicer than Pac Man.

Also, do the badges reflect the position the crew members hold? Every time I have ridden the LIRR (not that often) the hats have said conductor. Do they just say conductor for any crew member (i.e. Asst. Conductor, Brakeman, etc.), or have I gotten lucky and always had a conductor punch my ticket?

I think the uniforms the conductors wear in the winter look very professional. Have they looked this way for a long time, or has the LIRR redesigned the uniforms recently?

Does someone have a website that shows how the uniforms have evolved in the history of the LIRR. Has the MTA standardized the conductor uniforms to look like those of both of their railroads?

Check out this portion of my LIRR website:
http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrphotos/ ... lution.htm

It should give you a good idea of dates and types of badges used.

Use Internet Explorer as a browser as some other browsers such as Firefox tend to jumble things on the site for some reason.

I'm currently assembling a page for Uniform Button Evolution, but it's not as yet complete or posted.

Visit my site for other goodies, URL of which is listed below my name.

Dave

And . . . until I get the button evolution page done, here's a quick synopsis of the uniforms:

1800's through 1915: blue wool serge uniforms, double-breasted frock coat (with tails), vest, blue uniform cap, however, 1900-1915 white uniform caps were used!! Also, 1900-1915, embroidered "LIRR" in fancy embroidered border on each lapel of uniform jacket.

1915-1932: blue wool serge uniforms, double breasted regular coat, with vest and blue uniform cap. Sideways embroidered straight "LIRR" on each lapel of uniform coat.

1932-1948: blue wool serge uniforms, double-breasted regular coat with vest and blue uniform cap. Winter cap was solid. Summer cap had wickering around the sweatband for ventilation. Embroidered "LIRR" intertwined in the Pennsy keystone on each lapel of the uniform coat.

1948-1959: blue wool serge uniforms, single breasted coat with vest and blue cap: summer cap was ventilated with wickering, winter cap was solid. 1948-9/1950, metal brass pin with "LI" initials in a circle on each lapel. 9/1950 - 6-9/1959, metal brass pin with "LI" initials, no circle, on each lapel.

1959-1971: "Postal Carrier" grey uniforms, single breasted with vest and grey cap: summer cap was ventilated with wickering and a red stripe. Winter cap was solid with a blue stripe. Cap badge lettering to match! 6-9/1959 - 1971: Metal silver pin with "LI" initials on each lapel.

1971-1/1/89: blue uniform returns: single breasted coat with vest and blue cap. Nothing on lapels.

1/1/89 - present: redesigned blue uniform used today: single breasted coat with vest as well as sweater vest and blue cap. Nothing on lapels.

Dave

The steam engine you see on the Trainmens hat badges is the corporate seal of the LIRR. It is also on their coat and vest buttons. If you look closely at it, you'll see "The Long Island Rail Road Company" and the year of incorporation, "1834". Also at the bottom of the corporate seal, there is an "M" to reflect MTA ownership of the LIRR. Prior to the MTA owning the LIRR there was a Maltese Cross where the "M" is today.

The badges do state the position of the crew member. But, if it says "Conductor" it does not mean that the person is actually the Conductor of that train, basically the person "in charge" of the train..he/she may be an Asst. Conductor or Collector on that train. When they pass their testing to be Conductors, which is quite extensive, they replace the hat badge that stated "Asst. Conductor" for one that says "Conductor". Unless the person wants to change it everyday to reflect if they are working as an Asst. Conductor or Conductor, they don't bother and the Railroad doesn't make them change it everyday to reflect their position on the train.

What you see on the hats is what is required in the NYS Railroad Law. A railroad employee designated to collect fares on a train must have a badge indicating the Railroad Company's name and the employee's position on the train. The uniform isn't what allows them to collect fares, it's the badges.

Thanks. Another question this made me think of: Do they pay an assistant conductor the same as a conductor. For example you said that if their badge says "conductor," it does not necessarily mean that they are the conductor but may be acting in another capacity. Do they pay a conductor a conductor's salary if he is working as an assistant conductor or brakeman?

Hi TRAINS, to answer your question, no they do not pay Asst's the same as Conductors. It's a few dollars an hour less. The hourly wage is set based on what capacity they are working for that day. However, if a person who, although qualified as a Conductor is working as a Collector or Asst. for that day and is then "stepped up" to Conductor for some particular reason that same day, then that person gets the hourly wage for a Conductor. It has to do with responsibility. The Conductor is more responsible for what goes on than an Asst or Collector and can do more..such as make arrangements for a train to enter the Main, write train orders and other paperwork, be on the leading end of a train being shoved to call signals and such to the Engineer and so on. So they should get paid more and do. I'm not a Conductor but there is much more to that job than collecting fares. Unfortunately, what a "Conductor" of a train does is less visible to the public than let's say an Engineers job and function.

Hope this helps!!

Trains:

Did you find my information and website helpful?

Dave

Oh, sorry I didn't mention your website, yes it was helpful. It would be cool if you could get pictures of the conductor's uniforms over time. But I liked the website for the badges a lot. I liked how the badges looked before 1990 much more than the current ones now. Are all those badges from your collection? How difficult is it to obtain one for my own collection?

Trains:

Some of those specific badges are not mine, I just used the scans as I do not have a scanner, but, yes, I have representative samples of ALL those styles, going back to the 1880s.

I also have many of the different varieties as listed. Unfortunately, the 1880s badge is extremely rare and the Station Agent is the only one I have. A friend of mine also has Station Agent and a friend of his has Trainman. I've seen Ticket Collector in a display case about 35 years ago.

If you'd like to obtain badges, my advice to you is to troll E-bay. Every so often some of the later ones come up. Also, every now and again some of the old PRR-style scalloped badges come up for sale. Recently Brakeman and Conductor have come up for bid in that style, but as they don't say Long Island Rail Road on them you have to hunt for them.

Right now, an LIRR conductors' cap and wide version MTA-style badge is up for bid.

Good luck!

Dave