The Railroad’s New ‘Company Cop’
A newly appointed railroad inspector wields broad authority to discipline train crews for incivility, drinking, or ticket scalping.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The effort to pin railroad conductors’ incomes down to their salary has resulted in the appointment by the Northern Pacific of inspectors. There are not more than half a dozen of these officials on this road and only one between Pasco and Portland. His commission is a roving one, and the inspector can board a train at any point on the line in his territory and immediately be in command, with the exception as to the actual work of running the train. He has authority to collect tickets, make a general examination of the train, of the deportment of the employees and the manner in which they treat the traveling public. His duty is also to keep a close watch for scalpers’ tickets. The inspector on this division makes a report to the superintendent, and if he has detected any crooked work in the matter of fares, drinking among the employees or incivility on the part of any of the train crew to passengers, it is equivalent to a ‘lay-off’ or discharge, according to the gravity of the offense.
“His commission is a roving one, and the inspector can board a train at any point on the line in his territory and immediately be in command.”
This early 1890s push for internal corporate surveillance echoes today’s digital monitoring of gig workers and service staff. The role of the railroad inspector mirrors modern automated metrics that track 'customer experience' and employee compliance in real-time.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.