Loggers are also partial to hickory and denim work clothes, one on-line source:

Bailey's

First, here's another clasic photo. The brakeman/conductor appears to be wearing Lee brand overalls.

From my photographic research, it appears that Lee was a prominent maker of overalls in the US during the late steam era. They also seem to have had wide geographic appeal, I've seen them on UP crews, crews on the Rock Island, MKT and some midwestern roads. eBay seems to be an excellent resource for finding Lee overalls and other vintage clothing. I recently purchased a new-with tags pair of Oshkosh overalls in my size. They are at least 20 years old.

For those of you who want US made clothing, it appears that Pointer Brand and Round House are your only options. Key, Dickies, Wahl (Liberty) and others have moved their production overseas.

I just recieved some Kromer cotton caps and a couple of super nice Thompson Caps from the Thompason Cap company. I'll post photos later on.

And a note to the "posed night photo" people--- NO kero lantern.

Those "hay-burners" are fine for pre-1935 era shots, and even into the late 50s, most every caboose/passenger train had one red and one white kero lamp (with topedoes clipped to the frames), the pair sitting on the rear platform for use in providing Rule 99 flag protection. But not used so much for actual passing of signals among crew members; the battery lamps were very quickly adopted because they were so much better for that task.

Howard P.
Pet Peeve, Conn.

Battery-operated lanterns are much easier to transport to and from the railroad, I threw mine into my suitcase for my visit to IRM this past weekend, though TSA apparently inspected by bags, according to the flyer I found inside after returning home.

Good thing you didn't transport Lithium batteries - it was on the USPS hazardous materials list & I'm sure that the Department of Homeland Insecurity (TSA Division) would not take kindly to them.

PS. Don't board a plane 15 min or sooner before departure, you are guaranteed to get your soiled undies inspected AND delay the planes departure by 15 min. Maybe it was the beard.....

Today's photo, the Illinois Central yard office in Waterloo, Iowa. Bib overalls appear to be Lee. Note the white Kromer caps. The gentleman on the right appears to also be sporting his union membership pin on his hat. Also, note the battery powered trainman's lantern (that's for you, Howard).

In talking with my father recently, it was revealed that he, who grew up in Louisville in the 1950s and 1960s wore Lee jeans and they were popular. My grandfather, who worked at the International Harvester plant in Louisville also wore Lee work clothes. Based on this and photos, it appears that Lee had pretty wide geographic distribution in the late steam, early diesel era.

(Credit: IC Company Photo from the Sam Harrison Collection)

For those of you who want period-authentic eyewear for the 1950s-1960s, Shuron, the makers of the "Ronsir" eye glasses that were popular in the era, is still in business:

http://www.shuron.com/

I just found this thread and haven't carefully read every post, so forgive me if any of this has already been mentioned.

Until sometime in the early to mid 80's, Kromer made a line of fitted pleated top engineer style hats. They looked exactly like the traditional round Kromers with the pill shaped visor, excepting the crown was pleated. I think Kromer still makes them, but only in an adjustable one size fits all version, and only in hickory stripe.

I've been collecting old RR hats for a while, and I've got a bunch of old pleated top Kromers. Just like the round top Kromers still available, they came in countless different color variations over the decades. Most were made of cotton duck or twill material; I've got black ones, hickory stripe ones, a herringbone one, and about 8 years ago I bought out a lot of new old stock ones from a guy on Ebay (which still had the clothing store price tags attached with sewing pins) that were gold with black pin stripes. I have a friend who owns a white one, and even saw one once that was a blue paisley design. They're by far my favorite railroad cap -- lightweight, and much more comfortable than the denim ones.

Anyway, a few years ago a fellow by the name of Ralf Reynolds started making replicas under the name "Zasu Caps" and selling them on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-STYLE-W ... 3ce5efd3c1

I've had a lot of correspondence with him, and he tells me he first patterned his caps after an old Kromer. They're pricey, but the quality is extremely high and I may be mistaken, but I think the profits go to some sort of charity.

The visors on his caps are a bit more square than a Kromer; a few years ago I sent him an old one and he made me two replicas in black cotton twill that were perfect in every detail. I still wear them at work on a regular basis.

Anyway, just thought I'd make sure people know these hats are available. Ralf makes replica newsboy caps as well, also top quality:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1930s-S ... 3a92d213d9

Attached are a few pictures: a shot someone took of me at work with one of the Ralf Reynolds replicas, and a new old stock gold pin stripe Kromer.

Joe,

Thanks for the post, you've added yet another resource! You look the part in the photo!

What brand of bib overalls are you wearing?

Here's another photo of a Thompson Cap Company coat/jumper. It is a photo sent to me by a good friend whom I've met through IRM. He held down the Metro-North New Canaan branch shuttle run in the early 1980s, when they revived a pair of ex-New Haven "washboards."

David Wilkins brought up the subject of wearing natural fabrics to prevent burns in steam engines. When I joined the US Navy in 1969, I was issured chambray blue type shirts that were both short sleeve and long sleeve, these were standard issue items for duty. Only until I went to a ship that long sleeve shirts were the norm to keep from getting burned. Also those shiny corfram shoes were outlawed in engineering spaces after a fire on a ship, that burned instantly in a fire. Boondockers were the shoe for every duty on the ship. I remember standing in the hot sun in summer in Pensacola FL for a command inspection wearing corfram shoes, the tops of my feet were bright red afterwards an a trip to sick call to get some lotion for the sun burn tops of my feet. I was not the only one with severely buned feet. So good steel toed shoes around the shop is a must and on rocky ballast. For fire fighting classes long sleeve shirts were required.
I have not wore overalls in years, but for room in the crotch area, they are great.

Tom Travis HVRM North Judson IN

No problem, and thanks.

The bibs and shirt are both Key, D&SNGRR uniform issue. They also buy Big Smith and Roundhouse bibs, but I like Keys the best. They fit me well, and they're pretty stout. We also get heavy duty Key hickory stripe shirts that are good in chilly weather, Key lined chore coats, and Key adjustable hickory stripe pleated caps. I've never worn the caps because I can't stand adjustable ones, and even if they were fitted they're heavy and uncomfortable compared to a Kromer. We are permitted to choose a different railroad cap; it can be black, blue, or hickory stripe.

Here's the guy who instilled the love of steam in me oiling around one of the Frisco's big 4400s at Newburg, MO in 1945 prior to tying on to the train and heading east back to St. Louis. My Dad.
Second photo is yours truly back when I had a beard, and hair, after arriving in Cheyenne after going through Hermosa Tunnel on the 3985 which was the second engine in the doubleheader. All that diesel soot took about three showers to get off and the Oshkosh bibs went into a hazmat bag. They didn't want to let us into the motel.
Steve and the UP crew were big on bibs. They're unbeatable since you have room to move around in them. Couldn't stand our uniforms.

Just in case anyone is curious about the lanterns in the above photos, the lantern in the first photo appears to be a "Justrite" model (that brand was more commonly known for its mining lamps) and the lantern in the second photo appears to be and Adlake model. I may start an electric railroad lantern thread if there's interest.

Now, back to hickory stripes...

"Just in case anyone is curious about the lanterns in the above photos, the lantern in the first photo appears to be a "Justrite" model (that brand was more commonly known for its mining lamps)"

That would be a good thread.

Here's one for sale with original box.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Railroa ... 46268e81c5