And there there was railroading that took place outside the auspices of a railroad company. On the J&L Narrow Gauge, since it is based on industrial railroading, my "uniform" when running the 58 will be green fire resistant pants and a green jacket with a yellow Skullgard hardhat and steel toed boots. This is traditional steel mill worker attire and also quite practical. The greens don't burn easily, are rather cool on a hot day and it is always a good idea to wear a hard hat when working around industrial equipment. Perhaps add some "Hot Mill" gloves to complete the ensemble.

Its what all the fashionable steel mill railroaders are wearing this season!

Thompson Cap Company, located in New Haven, Connecticut manufactured railroader's clothing that was popular with the men in New England and as far west as the Chicago area. In the New Haven RR area, in the winter the freight crews wore denim jeans or pants, with the coat in denim and the hat in blue or blue/black corduroy (with fold down ear flaps). In the summer it was the grey or blue pin striped coat and the hat was also grey or blue pin striped with a denim blue bill on the hat.

Attached is a brochure showing the large selection of hat styles as well as other items of clothing. While I got this in the 1970s when I was working on the Narragansett Pier Railroad, I suspect the brochure is from the late 1940s or 1950s.

Thanks!

Those photos are a perfect example. They're all wearing items that are somewhat similar, yet no two are the same. Just as in today's train service, where you find lots of Levis and Carharrt, but again, subtle (or not so subtle) variations. Passenger service was the exception, where the uniforms were, well, uniform. But freight crews definitely had some variations.

Another couple of period photos.

This one is Southern Pacific about 1907 and someplace in the San Francisco Bay area. The photographer is R. H. McFarland and it is from the collection of Arnold Menke. Looks like the two engine men and a man in a suit.


Another print from the Menke collection is this one of a Northwestern Pacific narrow gauge Brooks 4-6-0 c.1920. I don't know if this is just shop men or including the engine crew.

[attachment=0]fireman2.jpg[/attachment]How about having someone like this guy shaking hands at the station?
One of my favorites from a great spot to find historic rail photos, The Library of Congress.

Title: Melrose Park (near Chicago), Ill, C&NWRR [i.e. Chicago and North Western railroad]. William London has been a railroad worker 25 years - now working at the roundhouse at the Proviso yards.
By Jack Delano, Dec. 1942.

I just searched Railroad Workers, the link…
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=r ... %20workers

Check out the following issues of Trains magazine:
4/76, page 48
3/77, page 22
10/77, page 31
4/79, page 50
10/82, page 22
Author Lloyd Arkinstall interjects railroad wear throughout each article. Excellent reading from someone who was there and can convey the spirit of railroading.

In the book Goin' Railroading by Margaret Coel, Denver South Park & Pacific engineer Sam Speas tells what they wore in 1890 Como Colorado in the winter to cross Boreas Pass to Breckenridge.
"Nothing was done to outfit the engine cabs to make winter more tolerable for the railroaders. The fireman side was still exposed, except for the usual ragged canvas curtains. By the late 1890's, some locomotive sides had been rebuilt with steel. Ice crusted over the metal walls, snow piled up on the deck, cold air blew across the floors, and the wind howled through the gangway, blowing coal off the shovel before the fireman could throw it in the firebox.

The railroaders fought the winter by dressing for it. Sam (Speas Sr.) left for winter trips swathed in two sets of long heavy wool underwear, two pairs of pants, two woolen shirts, two coveralls, two pairs of wool socks, and heavy leather boots. On top of all this he buttoned a hip length mackintosh, wrapped two wool scarves around his neck, pulled a wool cap over his ears and pulled on fur-lined gloves"

If you've ever been to Como Colorado in the winter or drove over Boreas Pass in the summer you could easily see the need for the excessive clothing. This is an excellent book as told by retired engineer Sam Speas Sr. to his engineer son Sam Speas Jr and to his daughter Margeret Coel.

What I think this thread shows is the type of clothing depended on the type of service and the location in the country. Where I volunteer, I referred to the Kinsey Locomotive Portraits book to find appropriate logging railroad attire. I chose a particular hat style based on these photos.

Brandon

I'm unclear as to why so many people are talking about what people are wearing now, as opposed back in the day.
Here's what the crews wore on the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR during the late 40s...

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Also depended upon time period.

I recall once being in a group that was looking at railroad photos that included railroaders and other people. There was a museum clothing curator present. Much to our surprise the curator was very accurately matching the photo date based on the cut of the clothing and cap styles.