Re: Question about who called the train crews

Murph Wrote:
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> Perhaps a dumb question, but how were extra board
> crews "called" before the telephone?

Same as described above. The "call boy" was sent out to find and notify the named people. The individual crew members might have been checking in to see where they were on the list (just like today) to see if they might be called in the next few hours or in a couple of days. The "call boy" would know the rooming houses, hotels, etc. used or frequented by the crews.

Depending on local agreements, the extra board lists might be based on seniority or a rotating board.

A rotating board being a list on which a crew member on completing a run would go to the bottom of the list. If the road had a busy season the list would be longer at that time and then cut back when there were fewer trains to staff. That being one reason there were once "boomers" who traveled the country to work where there were jobs.

BN