I owned and operated a tourist railway for three years and in that time we sold 175,000 tickets the old fashion way! What I found that worked without fail and cost the least (in materials and stress) was a method of ticketing, information gathering and storage, that is not new....can anyone guess? Its the way railroads did it for over one hundred years...PENCIL AND PAPER, index cards, file folders, etc. Pencil's are cheap and never wipe out all the files when there is a surge in the power system. Made a mistake and can't figure out how to "alt delete" one sentance without wiping out the whole program? With the old proven system, although not as slick, you simply turn the pencil upside down and rub with vigor until the mistake is gone. High tech is not always the solution or the best...amazing how passenger terminals like say, LAUPT or Grand Central processed thousands of tickets each day, kept track of who went where, when did they ride, on which train AND kept a record of all this.....AND in triplicate no less...with good old cheap pencils, rubber stamps, carbon paper and sheer determination to get it right because you had to. And not to forget, how in the world did they get all those thousands of trains up and down the tracks, all around the USA and all in the proper order without radios, computers, fiber optics, etc.? With good old cheap lamp oil, pencils and paper and oh yes the biggest factor....the human being! Give me any day the cash drawer that is simply that, no buttons to press or the lazy digital read-out to tell the clerk how much change to give (while they are talking on the phone to their boy friend or girl friend), just open the box, count back the change, write the sale in the book, hand the customer their carbon copy reciept and file away in your folder....and oh yes, smile and say "thank you for your patronage"...there is that human contact thing again. When your reservsation person answers the phone, have them ask "how did you hear about us, where are you calling from" write this in a log and file away, you now have a easy way to track who, what and where and also in some small way the customer might get the feeling you care about their business....everyone likes to feel important. May sound old fashion but it sure is cheap and you never have to worry about your ink jet running dry or deleting by accident all the stuff you just downloaded. I have spent so much on ink jet refills that I could have used the same amount of money to re-tube the poor old steam engine and have enough dough left over to purchase hundreds of No.8 pencils...heck, the only virus to worry about would be if a pack of hungry termites were to attack that top draw of your desk....and always remember folks.....the staple is our enemy....the paper clip IS our true friend. (By the way....does anybody know where I can buy one of those funny eye shade visor's and a pair of those black, half, sleeve-gaurds?)
Kind Regards,
Sam Drucker, Owner
Druckers General Store, Editor-In-chief Hooterville World Gaurdian, Post Master General, Justis of the Peace, 2nd Cornet Hooterville Volunteer Fire Dept. Marching Band and all round nice guy. Hooterville, USA

edrailco@aol.com

Funny you should mention the good old daze on the railroad preservation website. Over on Trainorders.com they have a thread going on Amtrak conductors pocketing ticket money ... they don't have much of a system either. There was always the story of the experienced streetcar conductor that could balance the nickel on the bell rope (that portion went to the company) and sticky fingers have been with us for a long time. Electric Railway Journals talk about this and many companies built foolproof systems to collect fares and nature came up with better fools. In my short stint (NYC) selling RR tickets in 55-57 we went from the three foot preprinted strip tickets to the three part carbon laced form which was neat because I had a definite receipt which came in handy when the auditors did their monthly check against my sales. This always meant working thru the latest rate books and if you made a mistake it came out of the paycheck. Of course this was back in the daze when you could read my handwriting. Of course the carbon paper meant you had to get rid of your fountain pen and go to a new-fangled ball point jobbie, and as the number of carbons increased you were admonished to press harder, you are making eight copies. Spreadsheets were 11x17 blue ruled sheets with a double lined red boarder, use a #1 pencil and don't press hard, it made the work of your red pearl eraser easier .... ah yes historic fabric at it's finest.

lamontdc@adelphia.net

> There is some truth in what you say about hi-tech not necessarily being the best thing.

What is most important about your ticketing system is that they are pre-numbered (or numbered automatically) and reconciled periodically (preferably daily) with cash deposited as soon as is practicable. Basic principles of internal control specify that custody and recordkeeping should be separated and that cash is subject to risk of miscounting, loss and defalcation. Manual systems can be very effective and if you have adequate labor (volunteers) might be very good at involving people in important (but tedious) work and developing a bank bench of people who understand the administrative end of the business.

It would be well worth while to have your revenue cycle controls evaluated by a CPA or a CIA (Certified Internal Auditor).

One thing you have to remember about ink-jet printers-they are manufactured according to the "gilette" theory. The major component (printer or razor) is sold cheaply with the hope that you will be tied into a specific ink or blade cartridge. You pay 99.99 or the printer and 39.99 for a few millilitres of ink and a plastic case.

High volume users will use laser jets. For this reason, high volume applications aren't envisioned and they are made without great regard to durability.

The business end of preservation is oft-neglected. It won't matter if you follow the latest museum practices and consistently put a lot of butts in seats-if you can't collect and account for revenues and expenses.

As for getting the green eyeshade-more to come on that later.

Superheater@beer.com

Carbon paper? Stamp pads? Whazzat?

No way anyone is gonna use your methods, makes too much sense!

Pencils were the order of the day (if you could get one from the chief clerk).Typewriters, were a luxury in my early railroading days. Always worked, never "down" or "crashed" (unless somebody got really mad!)Remember straight nib pens and dipping into an ink well? Indelible pencils? (How I hated those things! Had to wet it sometimes, yech!) How about chalk? Carrier phones? Magneto hand-cranked phones? They worked, all the time and so too did the employees.

> I owned and operated a tourist railway for
> three years and in that time we sold 175,000
> tickets the old fashion way! What I found
> that worked without fail and cost the least
> (in materials and stress) was a method of
> ticketing, information gathering and
> storage, that is not new....can anyone
> guess? Its the way railroads did it for over
> one hundred years...PENCIL AND PAPER, index
> cards, file folders, etc. Pencil's are cheap
> and never wipe out all the files when there
> is a surge in the power system. Made a
> mistake and can't figure out how to
> "alt delete" one sentance without
> wiping out the whole program? With the old
> proven system, although not as slick, you
> simply turn the pencil upside down and rub
> with vigor until the mistake is gone. High
> tech is not always the solution or the
> best...amazing how passenger terminals like
> say, LAUPT or Grand Central processed
> thousands of tickets each day, kept track of
> who went where, when did they ride, on which
> train AND kept a record of all this.....AND
> in triplicate no less...with good old cheap
> pencils, rubber stamps, carbon paper and
> sheer determination to get it right because
> you had to. And not to forget, how in the
> world did they get all those thousands of
> trains up and down the tracks, all around
> the USA and all in the proper order without
> radios, computers, fiber optics, etc.? With
> good old cheap lamp oil, pencils and paper
> and oh yes the biggest factor....the human
> being! Give me any day the cash drawer that
> is simply that, no buttons to press or the
> lazy digital read-out to tell the clerk how
> much change to give (while they are talking
> on the phone to their boy friend or girl
> friend), just open the box, count back the
> change, write the sale in the book, hand the
> customer their carbon copy reciept and file
> away in your folder....and oh yes, smile and
> say "thank you for your
> patronage"...there is that human
> contact thing again. When your reservsation
> person answers the phone, have them ask
> "how did you hear about us, where are
> you calling from" write this in a log
> and file away, you now have a easy way to
> track who, what and where and also in some
> small way the customer might get the feeling
> you care about their business....everyone
> likes to feel important. May sound old
> fashion but it sure is cheap and you never
> have to worry about your ink jet running dry
> or deleting by accident all the stuff you
> just downloaded. I have spent so much on ink
> jet refills that I could have used the same
> amount of money to re-tube the poor old
> steam engine and have enough dough left over
> to purchase hundreds of No.8 pencils...heck,
> the only virus to worry about would be if a
> pack of hungry termites were to attack that
> top draw of your desk....and always remember
> folks.....the staple is our enemy....the
> paper clip IS our true friend. (By the
> way....does anybody know where I can buy one
> of those funny eye shade visor's and a pair
> of those black, half, sleeve-gaurds?)
> Kind Regards,
> Sam Drucker, Owner
> Druckers General Store, Editor-In-chief
> Hooterville World Gaurdian, Post Master
> General, Justis of the Peace, 2nd Cornet
> Hooterville Volunteer Fire Dept. Marching
> Band and all round nice guy. Hooterville,
> USA


Old Time Trains
oldtimetrains@rrmail.com

Please relay your pencils and paper theory to those who think high-tech is the best way to replace our obsolete voting machines and their resultant nightmare during elections.. Having previously voted only in the State of Vermont, where the old fashioned paper ballot is still used, I had to be shown how to use a voting machine when moving to New York. Imagine the money that would have been saved in Florida if they had used only paper ballots! If there is a question, you just get them out and count again. I've been told they still use only paper ballots in Canada. Makes sense to me.

Incidently, someone mentioned the "Gilette principle" of selling products cheaply, but their support materials at high cost. That is correct, but the figures were slightly off-base. I bought a new HP printer (which works fine) recently for $39.95; the extra black cartridge was $28.95!

> Carbon paper? Stamp pads? Whazzat?

> No way anyone is gonna use your methods,
> makes too much sense!

> Pencils were the order of the day (if you
> could get one from the chief
> clerk).Typewriters, were a luxury in my
> early railroading days. Always worked, never
> "down" or "crashed"
> (unless somebody got really mad!)Remember
> straight nib pens and dipping into an ink
> well? Indelible pencils? (How I hated those
> things! Had to wet it sometimes, yech!) How
> about chalk? Carrier phones? Magneto
> hand-cranked phones? They worked, all the
> time and so too did the employees.


ryarger@rypn.org

Your ticketing technology should be less complex than the ticketing job it needs to do. I worked in theatre box offices where we sold tickets for a season, part of a season, an individual performance, a couple events, in several different price structures and kept it all under control with stubs and cubbyholes and postits. I also wporked on a tourist railroad where the owner upgraded to a computerized ticketing system for the single train that made 6 trips per day, and chaos reigned while the system was being debugged and the ticketing slowed down as the agents had to learn to use the new system. I will never forget the 200 seat train with the 400 seats sold.

Let's try to keep it as simple and elegant as possible.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has followed a slightly different path with its ticketing operations. For local and downtown trains operating without reserved seating, ticketing is done by the ticket agent at the station.

The unreserved tickets we use are based on the Georgia Railroad's tickets from the 1930s.The agent records the number of adult, children's, member's and special rate tickets sold for each train on the prescribed form, which is turned in at the end of the day along with the agent's stubs, which are forwarded for auditing.

On trains that operate with reserved seating only, the system is different. If a reservation is made at the station, the agent fills out a reservation card and either collects the money right then or the passenger's charge card information. The reservation card and money or charge card information are then sent to the business office for entry into the computerized ticketing program. Reservations called into the office are similiarly recorded on a reservation card for processing. Tickets for reservations made two or more weeks prior to the trip are mailed to the passengers along with train and station information. Tickets sold after the mailing cut off date are held at the ticket office in the station for pick up. Our computerized ticketing system generates a report for the reservationists showing seats available for sale and passenger manifest for the conductor, showing the train consist, total passenger count and a breakdown by car showing seat assignments and seats available for onboard sale or use as upgrades.

awalker2002@comcast.net

> Carbon paper? Stamp pads? Whazzat?

> No way anyone is gonna use your methods,
> makes too much sense!

> Pencils were the order of the day (if you
> could get one from the chief
> clerk).Typewriters, were a luxury in my
> early railroading days. Always worked, never
> "down" or "crashed"
> (unless somebody got really mad!)Remember
> straight nib pens and dipping into an ink
> well? Indelible pencils? (How I hated those
> things! Had to wet it sometimes, yech!) How
> about chalk? Carrier phones? Magneto
> hand-cranked phones? They worked, all the
> time and so too did the employees.

Without using pencils, think of all the trees we're saving and we rape less of the countryside of its lead (graphite). ;)

wyld@sbcglobal.net