Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools
Sections
Search the Archives
Browse the Archives

Route Name

Follow Amtrak Online
 
Home > Archives > Passenger service representative waving, early 1970s.

Passenger service representative waving, early 1970s.

Black and white photograph of passenger service representative Patty Saunders waving from the door of a rail car; dates to the early 1970s.

Passenger service representative waving, early 1970s.

According to the St. Petersburg, Florida Evening Independent of July 28, 1972, Patty Saunders was one of the first passenger service representatives hired by Amtrak. In her role, she assisted customers on the train and listened to their complaints and compliments regarding Amtrak service, passing on ideas for improvement to management. Like many early employees, Saunders transitioned to Amtrak from a predecessor railroad--the Seaboard Coast Line--when it turned over its passenger service obligations to the new national railroad company.

In this image, Saunders wears a mini skirt and red jacket, which incorporates the first Amtrak service mark in white along the collar and button band. In early 1972, Amtrak unveiled new uniforms by designer Bill Atkinson that were made of Dacron polyester blended with wool or cotton. Female passenger service representatives could chose from pieces such as hot pants and a floor length skirt that could be mixed with various tops and sweaters according to the season.