by Grump
gardendance wrote: Of course the other wrinkle is the lucky recipient of the free seat check would also have to know what the day's punching or marking style was. Are conductor's punches distinctive? When I was a kid I heard tales that they were as unique as snowflakes, which I found hard to believe even then. Do all crew members usually know what shape punch the rest of the crew has?Yes punches are all unique, I'm sure there may be two of the same on the system....
Working a regular job, I know what my regular crew members punches are. If I'm unsure of another crewmans punch if I have a potentially beat with his own seatcheck, I'll check with the crew member to see their shape. I've even seen farebeats try to punch a seatcheck with a pen or a knife.
And I always punch E or W on mine so they can't be used later on another crews train and to ensure that they're "mine"...
Attention ladies and gentlemen, we are being held to allow for the same Amtrak train that passed us at Secaucus and Newark to pass us again for the third time. We thank you for your patience.