This is a great picture provided by Linda Blackman, and shows agent/operator Hal Johns at work in the Stonefort depot. I don't have a date for the photo, but the telephone in the background tells me that it was probably in the 1950's. Hal was a notorious "saver" and had company timetables, annual reports, and various other memorabilia dating back for a couple of decades. CAPT Rex Settlemoir Linda Blackman Collection.
Roger, thanks for a great photo showing one of the many people who made railroads run from behind the scenes. It's possible the photo was taken from the late 30's until about 1950. The telephone you refer to is a Bell 300 set. The 300 sets were replaced by the Bell 500 sets starting about 1950. The 500 sets were more reliable than the 300 sets, so were installed as soon as possible. All Bell phones were owned and maintained by Bell, so poor reliability was a major expense.
I used to have one which the hand set had "UPRR" neatly branded atop. (Like the example in the upper picture, above.) Sold it at a swap meet years ago. That type of phone was unfamiliar to so many people it was almost stunning. One fellow claimed it was a fake. (Dumb**s) But I knew the depot where it had been used....
Back when every depot and every agent had that kind of equipment around them (and knew how to use it). Also back when our home phone number was 542-J.
