From: heller@deepsoft.com

At Sun, 27 Apr 2014 14:01:24 +0000 (UTC) "Adam H. Kerman" 
wrote:

>
> conklin  wrote:
>
> >   Even subway stations are attended.  And those old RR stations also had a
> >freight agent, usually in a separate building.  They most certainly were
> >staffed. . . .
>
> Is conklin wrong about this? It's my understanding that a wayside station
> would have had an agent who sold both intercity (or suburban) passenger
> fares and wrote up freight waybills and sold LCL. If there was enough
> LCL, the station may have had a baggage room attendant. There could have
> been a separate freight house with enough business.
>
> A separate agent for freight and passenger? I don't see how there would
> have been enough business.

There might have been at one time.  At least at some stations.  Conklin wants
us to believe that passenger rail is prohibitly expensive and always has been.
He is *inventing* all sorts of unnecessary costs.  Like separate passenger
and freight agents at *every* small station.  The very idea of the freight
agent spending even 5 minutes of his time selling the odd passenger ticket is
something conklin would hate, just as he hates the occasional passenger train
on his sacred freight railroads.  I believe in the 19th century there were
*mixed* passenger and freight trains (Oh, the horror of it!).

Oh, in the 19th and early 20th centuries there was a different 'social
contract', in terms of various things, like transportation services. In the
later 20th century things moved more to a 'self service' way of doing things,
including automated ticket machines and on-line ticket sales. Thus the
staffing requirements at transportation stations and terminals is greatly
reduced. Yes, at *major* transportation stations and terminals (in larger
cities) there is plenty of staff and plenty for the staff to do, but staffing
at smaller stations and stops, is much less than it was a century or so ago.
Other changes involve things like vending machines replacing resturants /
cafes built into stations and/or nearby fast-food places (eg McDonnalds,
Burger King, and the like). OTOH, *modern* big city rail and bus terminals
rent out space to fast-food places, cafes, and convience stores.

>

--
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933 / heller@deepsoft.com
Deepwoods Software        -- http://www.deepsoft.com/
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