Either -- or, if you go back a ways, telegraph. It could take a while, but folks were used to things taking some time to happen. As to where -- Joe Welsh would be a better source, but I believe eachcar line was assigned to a specific bureau which would control both on-line and off-line requests. Terminals with a lot of sleepers to a multitude of destinations, such as Penn Station, NY, or Grand Central would have a bureau. I would suppose that Erie, DL&W or EL would be controlled from Jersey City or Hoboken, probably by someone in the Passenger Department working part-time on that and the rest of the time on other stuff. Remember -- reserved-seat coaches would offer the same challenges, perhaps even more so as people got on or off along the way. Randy Brown - -------------------------------------------------------------- Randy That all makes sense, but we are looking at the age of PRE computers. Just wondering how a central bureau worked in 1954? Via Phone? Via Tela Type? When you say central bureau, you mean National correct? Any idea where it was located? Bob Bahrs *** The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org ------------------------------
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