Railroad Workers Were Still in Demand

Carl Samuels (1906-2005) was a Bloomington native who began work at the Chicago & Alton shops in 1922.

Carl worked on the scrap gang dismantling old railcars, separating wood from metal, and collecting scraps from the various departments in the shops. He also worked the coaling tower, where he shoveled coal into a hopper that loaded the locomotive tender (the car behind the locomotive).

African Americans like Carl were excluded from shop apprenticeships and train operating crew positions. The only jobs they were hired for included laborer, dining car server, or passenger train porter.

When the Great Depression began, Carl’s job on the scrap gang was given to a white man. But as the Depression ended, Carl began to fill in for porters who were sick or on vacation.

As a porter Carl assisted the train conductor by carrying luggage and tending to passenger needs. Carl really liked this job, especially when kids were on board. 

What he did not like was that all other workers were paid “deadhead” time (non-working time spent on the train getting to the start point), while African Americans were not. And his rate of $4 per trip to Chicago and back, plus tips, was less than what other crew members earned.

Because he was a replacement porter, Carl also worked as a janitor at ISU, or shined shoes at a downtown barber shop in order to survive.

In 1937 an African American led union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was organized and won a contract with the Pullman Company. When the union began to include train porters, Carl joined and his pay improved.

Carl retired from railroad work in 1962, but continued to work as a janitor at ISU until 1972.

John Whittington (1865-1941) came from the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad, via Texas, to work as the foreman and master painter in the Chicago & Alton paint shop in 1902.

John and his painters did a variety of tasks, from painting the exterior of freight cars and applying stenciled lettering, to creating fine high-gloss, multi-layered finishes on passenger cars and elegant hand-painted or gold-leafed details. As foreman, he assigned and supervised all these tasks.

As the shop’s master painter, John was responsible for the more elaborate and delicate hand-painted details, as well as fancy lettering on passenger cars. This work often included the application of gold leaf.

Joseph D. Penn’s (1898-1987) first job was tool boy for the C&A shops’ superintendent. He was 16 and used his roller skates for speedy delivery of tools.

Soon after that he started a machinist apprenticeship to learn how to repair locomotives. Joe used a variety of wrenches, levers, and other tools (often made in the shops) to remove, adjust, or tighten pipes, valves, and other parts of the locomotive. When he completed his training, he was placed on the roundhouse night shift where he made sure engines were prepared for their next trip to Chicago, St. Louis, or Kansas City. When parts broke down, Joe had to make new ones.

In July of 1922, Joe and 1,800 of his fellow shop workers walked off the job along with 400,000 additional railroad workers across the U.S. Their grievance: the railroad had cut their pay and overtime for the second year in a row. The company refused to negotiate with Joe’s union, Machinists Lodge 342. National Guard troops arrived to protect railroad property and replacement workers, and a sweeping court injunction severely limited strike activity.

Despite circumstances, Joe stayed at the shops. He and his coworkers reorganized Machinist Lodge 342 in 1926 and began to renegotiate their work conditions.

The Alton shops employed 1,200 workers, including Joe, in 1946, when the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (GM&O) took over. The GM&O purchased new diesel-electric locomotives, which were easier to maintain and required fewer skilled workers. Joe had 28 years of seniority, but was sent to the Springfield roundhouse until 1950. When he returned to the Bloomington shops, the work force was only 460 — a reduction of more then 60 percent.

Joe retired from the railroad in 1963. But he soon discovered that he did not like being idle and went back to work as a highway laborer.