Railroad Conductor's Case
date: label: date made
content: ca 1860
label: used date
content: ca 1860s
notes: label: Description
content: This railroad conductor's case was used by an "A. Randall" in the 1860s and 1870s. A railroad conductor on a passenger train was (and is today) the supervising officer of the train and supervisor of the entire train crew. In addition to this supervisory role, the passenger-train conductor serves as the purser, in charge of seeing to it that all fares are collected, either by himself personally or by his assistants, the uniformed trainmen on board. After fares are collected, the conductor does the accounting. A passenger-carrying railroad company was (and is) thus dependent on responsible and diligent conductors for its income.
label: Description
content: In the days before laptop computers and scanned tickets, the passenger-train conductor carried redeemed tickets or stubs, as well as cash, in a locked case. On a passenger train, a conductor appropriated an unassigned passenger compartment as his office, and the ticket case was kept locked in the compartment when the conductor made his rounds.
topic: label: Subject
content: Railroads
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Railroad
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: America On The Move
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.334930
label: catalog number
content: 334930
label: accession number
content: 315321
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Case, Railroad Conductor's
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (covering material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (lock material)