From time to time, this forum has discussed the type of clothing railroad workers wore at different time periods

I acquired a print (probably from a copy view of the original print) this week of two young men working of the Southern Pacific's narrow gauge line in Nevada and eastern California. The photo is dated January 1922 and was taken at a point on the railroad named Queen. Queen was a water stop between Montgomery Pass and Benton Station in California

The men are identified on the back of the print as a Frank Merril and Bert Zinders. Zinders was a fireman on the line and he succumbed to injuries received in a derailment that occurred on July 3, 1923.

They have the same issue with their overalls that I do the dang pant legs are too long and you have to roll them up to keep them from dragging on the ground. Of coarse they never stay this way and wind up soaked in diesel or whatever I am working in that day.

When I was in the Army back in the '60s, we used what we called "Blousing garters" on the bottom of our fatigue pants and bloused them right at the top of our boots. They were like little bungee cords with hooks on the ends.
I think enginemen used the same routine on their bib overalls.

I still have a few Penn Central marked leg cuff straps. Just a 1 inch wide piece of elastic material with a button snap on each end. They used them to keep your pants leg closed so it doesn't drag or get caught on sharp edges (foot boards, strap steps etc.)

Us kids used them in the winter in Buffalo NY to keep the snow from blowing up your leg while we walked to and from school, uphill both ways of course.

Cheers, Kevin

Were cuffs eventually prohibited for safety reasons?

Tom

Thompson Cap Company of New Haven, Connecticut was a manufacturer and/or purveyor of the basic railroad worker's clothing, generally from New England and the eastern seaboard to the Chicago area. They sold more than caps, however, including something they called "Thompson's Safety Pants Guards" which were elastic leg guards or ankle straps that snapped around the bottom of those coveralls or dungarees so those flapping pant legs wouldn't get caught on grab irons or switch ground throws and such. You could buy a style with two snaps or one, your choice in blue denim.

Thanks!