cz Wrote:
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> When I rode cross country (LD) trains back in the 90s, a large percentage of on-board crews were Afro-American men. I remember one trip in 1990, an annoying old passenger from Mississippi who was at my dining table told me I had tipped the dining car crew too much. The crew appreciated it, though, and showed me their appreciation the next time. I remember those crews for how warm and friendly they were. That's thirty-three years ago now, so all are retired or passed on.

Besides the time-factor advantage, one of the ways the commercial airlines stole away all of the traveling businessmen and salesmen from the railroads in the 1950s and 60s was by employing attractive, single and available female flight attendants. The railroads were offering old, African-American males, some of whom had bad attitudes because they could see their livlihoods slipping away. Managements like at the SP looked the other way when the complaint letters came in regarding these employees.

James Bistline, who was in Southern Railway's legal department and was heavily involved in the steam program, was married to a former flight attendant for, I believe, Eastern Airlines. It's probably safe to assume he did not meet her on the Carolina Special or Royal Palm.

There are a lot of on-board service people at Amtrak who remind me of the "Lyle Billup" character from Saturday Night Live:

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