Conductor sorting tickets, 2010.

In this image, a conductor organizes the paper tickets he has collected from passengers and reviews paperwork. In his hand and on the seat are three tools of his trade: a radio, gloves and ticket punch. The radio allows him to communicate with the engineer in the locomotive, while the gloves protect his hands when moving baggage or throwing switches.

Generations of conductors used the ticket punch to validate printed paper tickets, but the trusted tool is now a thing of the past on Amtrak trains. The company launched eTicketing across the national system in 2012. It allows passengers to print their tickets at their convenience or use a smartphone to show the eTicket to the conductor, thereby resulting in shorter ticket lines at stations, fewer tickets sold onboard trains and a decrease in the number of lost tickets. The eTicket program also provides Amtrak with accurate real time knowledge of who is on the train, en route reporting of onboard equipment problems and more efficient financial reporting.

This image is one of a set entitled "A Day in the Life of Amtrak" completed for the Amtrak 40th Anniversary celebration.

Photographer: Doug Riddell for Amtrak. From the Amtrak Corporate Collection.