Friendly Operators

[Kenneth Josephson]

Bob Rathke wrote:

> We flagged it, and as we boarded, the motoroman put his hand over the coin
> box, and I can still see his smile as he shook his head, "No."  Within two
> minutes, we were home.
>
> If he hadn't let us board, I don't know what we would have done.  As ten- and
> twelve-year olds, I'm sure we didn't have any coins in our pockets, and
> certainly, no car checks.

It sounds to me as if the Railways may have been more lenient or perhaps less able
to check on "lost" revenue than the Milwaukee system during M&ST days. The
Milwaukee system apparently used the children of officials' relatives to give
operators sob stories to avoid paying fares or zone charges. Woe to the charitable
operator who allowed one of these kids ride for free or not pay the nickel zone
fee. Ken J.