Who is the Conductor?

[vagabond]

I just completed a very enjoyable ride on the Coast Starlight from Eugene to San Jose. This was my first roomette trip. I look forward to many more.

So is the guy who greeted me when I first entered the sleeper car and later showed me how everything works and makes my dinner reservations and makes coffee in the morning the conductor or cabin attendant? My train had 4 sleeper cars and it seemed each car had one of these wonderful people. My guy was named Tom and he greeted everyone by name. Nice Touch.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Tom would be your Sleeping Car Attendant and each car or group of cars has an attendant to oversee it. As I heard one Coach Attendant tell a pax on my last trip, "No, I'm not the Conductor because the Conductor wears a hat!"

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

I just completed a very enjoyable ride on the Coast Starlight from Eugene to San Jose. This was my first roomette trip. I look forward to many more.
So is the guy who greeted me when I first entered the sleeper car and later showed me how everything works and makes my dinner reservations and makes coffee in the morning the conductor or cabin attendant? My train had 4 sleeper cars and it seemed each car had one of these wonderful people. My guy was named Tom and he greeted everyone by name. Nice Touch.

Most likely Tom was your sleeping car attendant. And by the way you have descibed Tom, it seems as if he is a good attendant who takes his job seriously. Tom is part of the OBS dept (on board services dept which I used to work in). The conductor is the operating employee who is in charge of the train's safe movement from point A to B over his/her assigned route or portion thereof. He/she is a T&E dept (train and engine operating dept) employee fully responsible for the train as a whole. The engineer and any other operating employee must adhere to any instruction from this individual. The OBS crew (waiters, attendants, etc) must adhere to instruction from this individual as well, but an operation supervisor may be onboard relieving the conductor of that resposibility. Unless Tom did so to help his conductor out (something he really isn't supposed to do), the conductor or assistant conductor was the individual who collected your tickets either on the train, or on the platform or in the station prior to boarding the train.

OBS gone freight...

 

[Guest]

Most likely Tom was your sleeping car attendant. And by the way you have descibed Tom, it seems as if he is a good attendant who takes his job seriously. Tom is part of the OBS dept (on board services dept which I used to work in). The conductor is the operating employee who is in charge of the train's safe movement from point A to B over his/her assigned route or portion thereof. He/she is a T&E dept (train and engine operating dept) employee fully responsible for the train as a whole. The engineer and any other operating employee must adhere to any instruction from this individual. The OBS crew (waiters, attendants, etc) must adhere to instruction from this individual as well, but an operation supervisor may be onboard relieving the conductor of that resposibility. Unless Tom did so to help his conductor out (something he really isn't supposed to do), the conductor or assistant conductor was the individual who collected your tickets either on the train, or on the platform or in the station prior to boarding the train.
OBS gone freight...

How can you tell the difference between a conductor, an assistant conductor, and an operations supervisor?

 

[jackal]

Unless Tom did so to help his conductor out (something he really isn't supposed to do), the conductor or assistant conductor was the individual who collected your tickets either on the train, or on the platform or in the station prior to boarding the train.

Interesting. My excellent sleeper attendant collected my ticket from me when boarding at LAX. I watched out the window as he handed the tickets to the conductor, who flipped through them all and then hole-punched them. I thought this was standard practice for sleeping class--I guess not!

How can you tell the difference between a conductor, an assistant conductor, and an operations supervisor?

The conductor and assistant conductor wear hats that identify them. (I can't remember if you can tell the assistant conductor apart from the conductor--the assistant's hat may literally say, "Assistant Conductor," but my memory's fuzzy on that.) OBS employees (even supervisors) obviously won't have that hat!

 

[sky12065]

Tom would be your Sleeping Car Attendant and each car or group of cars has an attendant to oversee it. As I heard one Coach Attendant tell a pax on my last trip, "No, I'm not the Conductor because the Conductor wears a hat!"

Now let me see! If I let the the attendant wear my hat, does that make him a temporary conductor until I take my hat back and leave the train? Aah, the power to promote and demote! :lol:

EDIT: Here's the hat I'm going to bring for the attendant!

 

[wayman]

I just completed a very enjoyable ride on the Coast Starlight from Eugene to San Jose. This was my first roomette trip. I look forward to many more.
So is the guy who greeted me when I first entered the sleeper car and later showed me how everything works and makes my dinner reservations and makes coffee in the morning the conductor or cabin attendant? My train had 4 sleeper cars and it seemed each car had one of these wonderful people. My guy was named Tom and he greeted everyone by name. Nice Touch.

An Amtrak conductor (note the hat), Amtrak president Alex Kummant, and a P42:

 

[vagabond]

The conductor is the operating employee who is in charge of the train's safe movement from point A to B over his/her assigned route or portion thereof. He/she is a T&E dept (train and engine operating dept) employee fully responsible for the train as a whole. The engineer and any other operating employee must adhere to any instruction from this individual. The OBS crew (waiters, attendants, etc) must adhere to instruction from this individual as well, but an operation supervisor may be onboard relieving the conductor of that resposibility.

Interesting that the conductor is top dog in the hierarchy, trumping even the engineer. Next time I’m on the train and see someone in uniform wearing a hat I’ll salute!

Unless Tom did so to help his conductor out (something he really isn't supposed to do), the conductor or assistant conductor was the individual who collected your tickets either on the train, or on the platform or in the station prior to boarding the train.

Tom collected tickets outside the sleeper car as we entered the train. On at least two occasions he assigned people to a room different from what was listed on their ticket, stating that their assigned room was not available.

As I left the train in San Jose someone assigned to my room boarded but Tom said the room was not ready yet. Makes me wonder if the sleeper attendant assigns boarding passengers to an available room until he has a chance to tidy up vacated rooms.

 

[Tony]

Interesting that the conductor is top dog in the hierarchy, trumping even the engineer. Next time I’m on the train and see someone in uniform wearing a hat I’ll salute!

The engineer is the helmsman. The conductor is the captain. The attendant is the yeoman.

 

[profwebs]

Tom collected tickets outside the sleeper car as we entered the train. On at least two occasions he assigned people to a room different from what was listed on their ticket, stating that their assigned room was not available.

Hmm, so having the assigned room on your ticket doesn't guarantee that room? The reason I ask is that I'm booked in Room 002 - Car 2900 on the CL next Tuesday. I really don't want a lower level room. Am I powerless?

Brian

 

[Karl]

Hypothetically, say room 001 is booked Seattle to Sacramento, "you" have been preassigned room 002 Davis to LA. After your ticket is printed "I" book a room Portland to Ventura. Maybe Amtraks computer disregards what is printed, gives "you" 001 for your trip, and 002 to "me". Hopefully the program is that smart, it would allow a fuller utilization of equipment. Of course the attendant could change the assignment if he had not yet gotten to cleaning "your" room, if he had a clean one available. Flexible smart enablement of good people to solve problems at the lowest level.

 

[the_traveler]

Unless Tom did so to help his conductor out (something he really isn't supposed to do), the conductor or assistant conductor was the individual who collected your tickets either on the train, or on the platform or in the station prior to boarding the train.

Interesting. My excellent sleeper attendant collected my ticket from me when boarding at LAX. I watched out the window as he handed the tickets to the conductor, who flipped through them all and then hole-punched them. I thought this was standard practice for sleeping class--I guess not!

I had the opposite happen to me a few years ago.

My sister and I boarded at NDL @ 1 AM to go to LAX. We had the H bedroom for the 7 hour trip (don't ask - it was thanks to a $300 voucher that was expiring). When we boarded, the conductor took our tickets - and then he told me I could use "that room" while my sister had the H room. The SA probably was asleep.

Later, the SA saw me come out of my room and questioned me. I explained that my sister was in the H room and the conductor said I could use this room. There were no further questions.

 

[AlanB]

Tom collected tickets outside the sleeper car as we entered the train. On at least two occasions he assigned people to a room different from what was listed on their ticket, stating that their assigned room was not available.

Hmm, so having the assigned room on your ticket doesn't guarantee that room? The reason I ask is that I'm booked in Room 002 - Car 2900 on the CL next Tuesday. I really don't want a lower level room. Am I powerless?

Brian

Normally rooms are not re-assigned by the attendant, unless there has been a problem. Something like a double booking, or a room with a problem. In traveling some 90,000 miles or so I've never had a room re-assigned upon boarding. I did just have a room re-assigned on the Auto Train this summer, but that was by the agents inside the terminal. And they did that because I had booked 3 of the roomettes on the lower level, as well as the family room. The very nice agent decided that the people booked into roomette #14 might be happier if they weren't stuck in the middle of our very large group. So they swapped that couple into 12, and gave me 14 instead.

 

[AlanB]

I'd say about 60% the time I travel I've had my tickets collected by the attendant. The remainder I've had to wait for the conductor to show up and do it. Frankly it seems to me as though there are some conductors that both like and permit the crews to lift the tickets, while other's don't allow them to do so.

 

[had8ley]

It is NOT the attendants job to lift tickets. I personally observed an older couple give their RETURN ticket to the sleeping car attendant who never noticed the mistake. Luckily, the conductor showed up to straighten these older folks mistake. I like to collect the different punches that each conductor has; you'll never get a one by handing your tickets over to an OBS person. Now IF Amtrak demanded that the attendants lift tickets I'm sure there would be rantings about how "It's not my job."

 

[jackal]

It is NOT the attendants job to lift tickets. I personally observed an older couple give their RETURN ticket to the sleeping car attendant who never noticed the mistake. Luckily, the conductor showed up to straighten these older folks mistake. I like to collect the different punches that each conductor has; you'll never get a one by handing your tickets over to an OBS person. Now IF Amtrak demanded that the attendants lift tickets I'm sure there would be rantings about how "It's not my job."

Well, to be fair, the attendant was just collecting the tickets for the conductor. The conductor still came by (I saw it out the window) and actually took the tickets--she just got to do them in one fell swoop rather than stopping at each and every compartment. So technically, it was the conductor who lifted them. She did flip through them before walking to the next car, and I presume she would have noticed if a passenger had given the attendant an invalid ticket.

I've always wondered why it's the conductor's job to lift tickets and not the attendants. The conductor is responsible for the operation of the train itself--signaling its movement and stopping, copying track warrants, being aware of existing and copying new track bulletins, etc. Why should he/she have to deal with the pesky passengers? It seems that the car attendants are better suited to enforcing seating, proper ticketing, etc., since they are the ones who will be familiar with the passengers over the course of the trip.

The only thing that I can think of is that because the conductor has the legal authority to force someone off the train, it falls to him/her to verify the tickets. If a passenger does not have a valid ticket or money to pay the fare, the conductor is the one to boot him/her off the train. There must be some archaic traditional/historical reason...

 

[Walt]

In all my years, I have never had anyone other than the Conductor take my ticket.

However, I could envision that an Attendant might "hold" your ticket to later give to the Conductor, if the Attendant believes that otherwise, the Conductor would be bothering you. For example, if you boarded the train at 2am, and wanted to go right to sleep.

I think the Conductor collects tickets, because tickets are essentially money. The Conductor, amongst his other duties, must be responsible to Amtrak for financial operation of the train, just like a cashier or teller is responsible for their cash draw "balancing".

 

[jackal]

In all my years, I have never had anyone other than the Conductor take my ticket.
However, I could envision that an Attendant might "hold" your ticket to later give to the Conductor, if the Attendant believes that otherwise, the Conductor would be bothering you. For example, if you boarded the train at 2am, and wanted to go right to sleep.

I think the Conductor collects tickets, because tickets are essentially money. The Conductor, amongst his other duties, must be responsible to Amtrak for financial operation of the train, just like a cashier or teller is responsible for their cash draw "balancing".

Good point, but what's to stop Amtrak from holding, say, the LSA or operations supervisor financially responsible? After all, the cafe car attendant is held financially responsible for the cafe's till (as I experienced personally, when the friendly-but-ditsy cafe attendant took my money and the conductor's money at the same time and then claimed I didn't pay and that her till would be short...conductor finally told her after 10 minutes to count her till at the end of the night and if she was short, he'd cover it--nice of him to do so, though it was probably since we'd been chatting for about 30 minutes before that). The conductor's not responsible for the cafe attendant's till or, presumably, the dining car's till. What would prevent Amtrak from having a car attendant till that the attendant would be responsible for?

Not saying it's the right way to do it--just sort of playing devil's advocate here...

 

[Walt]

The conductor's not responsible for the cafe attendant's till or, presumably, the dining car's till. What would prevent Amtrak from having a car attendant till that the attendant would be responsible for?
Not saying it's the right way to do it--just sort of playing devil's advocate here...

I think the difference is that the dining car attendants are not financially responsible for the dining car's collection of money. The dining car supervisor is responsible.

So, along that type of reasoning, the sleeping car attendants would not be financially responsible, but instead, their supervisor would be responsible. And their supervisor is the Conductor, no? We're back to the Conductor anyway.

 

[AlanB]

So, just like that, the sleeping car attendants are not financially responsible, but instead, their supervisor is responsible. And their supervisor is the Conductor, no?

No, barring the presence of an Onboard Supervisor, the sleeping car attendant's boss is the LSA in the dining car. That's not to say that the sleeping car attendant can refuse a conductor's request/order, but the attendant doesn't directly report to the conductor. And the conductor wouldn't ordinarily be concerned with most non-safety problems in the sleeper. That would be the LSA's job to deal with that.

 

[haolerider]

The conductor's not responsible for the cafe attendant's till or, presumably, the dining car's till. What would prevent Amtrak from having a car attendant till that the attendant would be responsible for?
Not saying it's the right way to do it--just sort of playing devil's advocate here...

I think the difference is that the dining car attendants are not financially responsible for the dining car's collection of money. The dining car supervisor is responsible.

So, along that type of reasoning, the sleeping car attendants would not be financially responsible, but instead, their supervisor would be responsible. And their supervisor is the Conductor, no? We're back to the Conductor anyway.

The conductor is responsbile for all ticket collection and it is against policy for anyone else to collect the tickets, even though it may make it easier for the Conductor. The Conductor is totally responsible for the batching of the tickets and placement in a pouch for shipment to finance. The Lead Service Attendant in the Dining Car is responsible for all transactions in the Dining Car - including getting sleeping car passengers to sign the guest checks and collection of cash from coach passengers and for any extras ordered by sleeping car passengers. The Lounge attendant is also held responsible for all cash transactions in the lounge car. Any diffences must be made up by the responsible person./

 

[sky12065]

The conductor is responsbile for all ticket collection and it is against policy for anyone else to collect the tickets, even though it may make it easier for the Conductor. The Conductor is totally responsible for the batching of the tickets and placement in a pouch for shipment to finance. The Lead Service Attendant in the Dining Car is responsible for all transactions in the Dining Car - including getting sleeping car passengers to sign the guest checks and collection of cash from coach passengers and for any extras ordered by sleeping car passengers. The Lounge attendant is also held responsible for all cash transactions in the lounge car. Any diffences must be made up by the responsible person./

It is my belief that it is illegal for the "responsible person" to make up the difference if I'm understanding your meaning corrrectly. However, you can dicipline or even terminate an employee, but you have no right to tell them that they must make the difference up! At least that's what I was informed when I did supervised cashiers.

 

[haolerider]

The conductor is responsbile for all ticket collection and it is against policy for anyone else to collect the tickets, even though it may make it easier for the Conductor. The Conductor is totally responsible for the batching of the tickets and placement in a pouch for shipment to finance. The Lead Service Attendant in the Dining Car is responsible for all transactions in the Dining Car - including getting sleeping car passengers to sign the guest checks and collection of cash from coach passengers and for any extras ordered by sleeping car passengers. The Lounge attendant is also held responsible for all cash transactions in the lounge car. Any diffences must be made up by the responsible person./

It is my belief that it is illegal for the "responsible person" to make up the difference if I'm understanding your meaning corrrectly. However, you can dicipline or even terminate an employee, but you have no right to tell them that they must make the difference up! At least that's what I was informed when I did supervised cashiers.

Sorry, this is an inventory based system and each of the responsible staff sign for a certain amount of inventory - food, beverage, etc. - and they are then responsible for returning the unsold inventory and the appropriate amount of cash/credit cards, etc.

 

[sky12065]

The conductor is responsbile for all ticket collection and it is against policy for anyone else to collect the tickets, even though it may make it easier for the Conductor. The Conductor is totally responsible for the batching of the tickets and placement in a pouch for shipment to finance. The Lead Service Attendant in the Dining Car is responsible for all transactions in the Dining Car - including getting sleeping car passengers to sign the guest checks and collection of cash from coach passengers and for any extras ordered by sleeping car passengers. The Lounge attendant is also held responsible for all cash transactions in the lounge car. Any diffences must be made up by the responsible person./

It is my belief that it is illegal for the "responsible person" to make up the difference if I'm understanding your meaning corrrectly. However, you can dicipline or even terminate an employee, but you have no right to tell them that they must make the difference up! At least that's what I was informed when I did supervised cashiers.

Sorry, this is an inventory based system and each of the responsible staff sign for a certain amount of inventory - food, beverage, etc. - and they are then responsible for returning the unsold inventory and the appropriate amount of cash/credit cards, etc.

Hum! I wonder if that's a loop hole in or an end run around the law!

I feel confident that what I stated is law because my employer was a government agency and as such would have no problem in making the employee make up the shortage if they could get away with it. We weren't even allowed to let the employee make up the difference even if they wanted to!

We did have a small $ threshold that could be tolerated, but if over on a single day or over a certain number if incidents within certain periods of time we had to council them and write them up and that could lead to suspension or even dismissal after repeated violations. The same would go for any other performance issues. Assuming Amtrak employees are unionized, they probably need to go through a similar proceedure to successfully dismis poor performance.

Anyway, thanks for your response!