Another one of the many things I enjoy collecting are interesting train tickets. Old commutation passes, complete with photo identification of the user, are one of my favorites – however today’s artifact is a bit different. While the tickets belonging to commuters are occasionally found, it is definitely more rare to encounter a ticket belonging to one of the New York Central Railroad’s executives. This leatherbound ticket folio, belonging to C. R. Dugan, has decorative golden corners, and is personalized with gold lettering. Inside are an array of passes for various railroads that Mr. Dugan was able to enjoy in his retirement.

Information regarding Dugan is a bit difficult to find, though he had a long career with the New York Central. In the 1920s, Dugan was an Assistant to the Vice President, and was part of a special committee that prepared the funeral arrangements for New York Central president Alfred Holland Smith (who died suddenly after being thrown from a horse in Central Park). Eventually, he worked his way up to the Manager of Public Relations, and from that position retired.

Though information about Dugan himself is scarce, there are a few mentions of the work he did for the railroad that I could find. Earlier in the week I posted about the New York Central’s donated B-26 bombers – Dugan was the main point of contact between the railroad and Anthony Gibbs, furloughed railroad employee on the New York Central II’s ground crew. In his role as Manager of Public Relations, he apparently spent quite a bit of time dealing with author Ayn Rand during her 1947 New York trip as she researched train operations for her seemingly-never-ending tome Atlas Shrugged. Rand conducted interviews with Dugan, and took several cab rides in various New York Central locomotives.

If you find old railroad tickets of interest, tickets of every variety can be found in the archives of SmartCat.