Porter (railroad)

A porter is a railroad employee assigned to assist passengers aboard a passenger train or to handle their baggage; it may be used particularly to refer to employees assigned to assisting passengers in the sleeping cars.

In Australia, a Railway Porter had various roles. A Baggage Porter assisted with luggage; an Operating Porter assisted with Safeworking duties; a Station Porter assisted with general station duties and a Lad Porter was a junior Station Porter.

Railroad porters in the United States

Until desegregation had its effect in the United States in the 1960s, the occupation of porter was almost the exclusive province of African American men. It was the Civil War policy of George Pullman, head of the Pullman Company, who wished to tap into a huge potential work force that was also non-unionized. Until the latter 20th century the occupation included providing a variety of on-board personal services, such as shoe shining. (Tye, 2004) This eventually changed with the organization of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters under the leadership of A. Phillip Randolph [http://www.aphiliprandolphmuseum.com] .

ee also

* Rail transport
* Rail terminology
* Pullman Porters
* Society for the Prevention of Calling Sleeping Car Porters "George"

References

* "Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class", By Larry Tye, Published 2004, Macmillan, 314 pages ISBN:0805070753