Re: Call Boys Question
Author: Nudge
Date: 06-01-2017 - 09:54
SP had them right up to the end. Usually a one mile circle from the depot or on duty point. When they closed the freight depot in Santa Barbara, crews were going thru to LA & SLO, they moved all the crew stuff up to the station. I got the old call book. I donated it to the Goleta Depot foundation. Just the contents of it could have caused a string of family problems back in the day. Notes on where to find someone, what gin mill, etc. Also phone numbers for people out of the calling area. (I was even in there with my mothers phone number in Goleta from 69)
SLO called within a mile of the crew dispatchers office. We had a lot of Apple Knockers (Wat. Jct. trainmen) staying around that didn't have a phone. A lot of the old heads wanted to be called by the caller, not by phone.
When the SP started to provide lodging in Wat. Jct. for engine crews, they used the phone.
Same in Santa Barb at the hotel on State St.
As times changed, very few people lived in the one mile circle, so the callers just faded away. If a situation came up, the crew dispatcher or clerk would call the person if needed.
Again, those callers knew everything about everybody. Where they ate, slept and drank. They were a big part of railroading.
Nudge