Passenger Trains > Question regarding Pullman Porters' working hours.

I asked this question on the Nostalgia Board first since it concerned Pullman Company Porters, but nobody has responded. Did Pullman Porters work the entire trip or did they work shifts? The only trips I took years ago were only around 600 miles and the porter working when I went to bed was the same one working when I got up. What happened on a really long distance train such as from Chicago to Los Angeles? Did the porters work in shifts?
Thanks in advance,
Charles

Can't speak with authority about US side,  but after a great round trip on Via's Canadian I recently got directed to a couple books about sleeping car porters in Canada during the Pullman era.  In Canada they worked long distance with maybe 4 hours sleep each night.  There's a couple books about Pullman porters on the US  side which can be found on Amazon and elsewhere.  Porters on the pre-Amtrak California Zephyr provided great memories and part of the inspiration that lead to finding myself in engine service.  The life and struggles struggles of Pullman Porters are worth reading about!

Rising from the Ashes, an excellent book about Pullman porters in Oakland CA, suggests that many porters worked OAK-CHI, and took short rest time before going out again.

Posted from Android

They had rest periods during the night, when they would retire to either the Porter's berth, or they would stay in an unsold room in their Pullman car.  Either the Pullman Conductor, or a Porter in an adjacent car would cover for the Porter who was resting.  There was a small jumper cable connected between Pullman cars that could activate the annunciator in the adjacent car when a Porter was sleeping and a passenger pressed the Porter's call button in his car.  The Porter or Pullman Conductor would then come from the adjacent car to call on the passenger who was requesting the Porter who was off duty.  
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/24 18:03 by Topfuel.

I could not find Rising from the Ashes, but did find Rising from the Rails on Amazon. Do a search on Pullman Porters and you will find a bunch of them.

Possibly there are two books and I just missed the first one.

Rising from the Rails looks interesting, and I know there are others out there, as well, such as Those Pullman Blues by Peralta (1996)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/24 21:32 by wzd.

Riding from the Rails is correct.

Many of the men profiled worked in the 1950s, so the experiences of earlier years may not be exactly comparable.

Posted from Android

My parents and I rode the Santa Fe Scout from Kansas to San Bernardino, CA in 1946,  We had the same Pullman porter all the way.  Those were the days when shoes left under the lower berth at night got shined before morning.  I suspect the porters may have gotten 3 or 4 hours of shuteye during the night.  But if one was needed, they were available.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 06:12 by jdw3460.

From what I remember, chair car porters stayed in their seats the whole way.
I don't think it was until the Hi-level cars were rehabbed as transition dorm cars,
that guaranteed hours of rest were given to employees.

Top Fuel described what happened on Amtrak in the 70s & 80s in sleeping cars.  Coach attendants had a similar pattern of coving for one another during their rest period.