Conductor
A conductor was the railroad or streetcar employee in charge of a train or car, who took tickets, kept to schedule and directed the crew.
On a train the conductor saw that safety rules were followed, the train kept to schedule, tickets were checked and cars and freight were picked up and set out properly. On American railroads brakemen were usually promoted to conductor, while for many years engineers came up from the locomotive firemen.
The 1900 census listed conductor among railroad jobs to be named exactly, and 1930 examples include conductor, steam railroad and conductor, street car.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1860 to 1940 census
Wm. Farr, 44, Conductor, R.R.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Conductor." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/conductor. Last checked 2026-10-10.