The recollection on this page was submitted by Mr. Floyd Baker, who was employed by the New York Central Railroad at Central Terminal as an Operator and Wire Chief from 1959 until 1964.

" The telegraph office was room 2M24 if I remember correctly.

Entering the near end of the terminal, you crossed in front of the old ticket windows, heading toward the REA counters.

You made a right turn through some double doors and then a left turn which accessed a hallway leading to the Credit Union and the Medical Offices. The credit union was headed by John H. Pax who was also one of its founders.

NOT making the turn down the hall put you straight into the NYC RR Police Office door. One of the cops I knew fairly well was named Walters and his brother Jack was one of the Clerks in our office upstairs.

The police office door was at the foot of the stairs going to the mezzanine.

At the top of the stairs, the open mezzanine, overlooking the concourse, was to your left, the double doors to the telephone switch room were straight across the hall.

Turning right, you would pass a mens room door on the left and then, at a bend in the hall to the right, there was first door of the telegraph office on your left.

This was on the wire chiefs end and was the one all of us used. The second door on the left was where the conductors came in to get their orders, etc. The area inside that door was enclosed with a low wall. The counter surface of which, provided many a man with a place to catch a few zzz's on the midnight shift.

(That's the door that appears in the shot of Ed at work with the incoming wires.) There was a third door down the hall but it was very seldom used, Unless someone from Tirmenstein's office had to check on a wire.

Those people were in the long stretch of offices that carried on past our office, over the loading docks of the REA below.

Across the hall from the conductors door was the switchboard. We used to like any excuse to go visit the girls. :-)

Lots of good times back then. I'm reminiscing to myself now.

Things went down hill at the depot while I was there. They stopped using the ticket windows in the concourse. The jewelry store, operated by a woman who was an artist closed along with the mens store, the souvenir/gift shop counters that encircled the clock, the soda fountain, the bar and finally the restaurant.

They took the brass and glass wall down off the mezzanine and used it to blockade the large main concourse. Everyone then had to go in via the far entrance and proceed straight ahead to the train boarding area.

They rigged up a lot of temporary offices and ticket windows in there, just past the candy counter. That corridor still sported the drug store, the barbershop and shoeshine, the taxi office and the newsstand, but not for long.

The tower became deserted, the jobs started being cut. I lasted for a while in the switch towers outside but in the end, was able to take severance.

It was a fair amount of money in those days, $5500.00.

Made things a lot nicer leaving but I still was very upset, then and now.



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Page 1 of Mr. Baker's Recollection and Pictures

Page 2 of Mr. Baker's Recollection and Pictures

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