Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on October 16, 1975.
Riding The ‘Dummy’
By JO MANNIES
On the dummy, on the dummy line… rise and shine. Rise and shine. Rise and shine and pay your fine, when you’re riding’ on the dummy… on the dummy, dummy line.
一American Folk Ballad
Rise and Shine. Early every morning, about 100 local residents do just that. Sleepily traveling to the corner of Lincolnway and Campbell, they grab a quick cup of coffee and board what many affectionately call “the dummy” 一 the Valparaiso-Chicago commuter line operated by the Penn Central Railroad.
Once in their seats, the riders read a paper or 一 what is more likely 一 curl up in the corner for a few extra winks while the train is still empty.
The only bright one on board is the conductor, who rouses the sleepers from their dreams so he can punch their ticket. “I’m uncouth, outspoken and say what I want,” declares Tom McDermott, the “good humor man” on the 6:35 a.m. train.
A Valparaiso resident who has been a member of the computer crew for 14 years, McDermott is upset with the rumors that the commuter may be dropped when ConRail takes over the operation March 1. “Now they (Penn Central) want to change the time schedule. It’s been the same for 35 years and now they want to change it.”
On Oct. 27, the altered time schedule will go into effect. The 5:55 a.m. train will leave Valparaiso at 6 a.m. and arrive in Chicago at 7:15 instead of 7:05. The later 6:35 a.m. train, which will pull out of the local station at the same time, will make three less stops 一 passing through Wheeler, Mahoning and the Broadway depot in Gary 一 and arrive in Chicago ten minutes earlier.
While McDermott contends that the change is a move toward eventually dropping one of the two trains, Penn Central official James Munn asserts that the change is needed since the trains are “currently not staying to the schedule.
“They have too many stops,” the manager of customer service said, adding that the early train will pick up passengers at all nine stops.
Since a majority of the passengers ride the later train, he continued, the earlier Chicago arrival at 7:45 a.m., will allow them extra time to get to work. An estimated 50 regular riders work in the Sears Tower and need the added minutes, Munn stated.
Since the train leaving Valparaiso at 6:35 a.m. and departing from Chicago at 5:05 p.m. also carries twice as many passengers as the train which leaves locally at 5:55 a.m. and pulls out of Chicago at 5:40 p.m., Munn hopes the schedule change will balance out the loads a bit more.
Conductor McDermott claimed many riders on the later train board at Gary’s depot on Broadway, but Munn countered “Gary will not be hurting for lack of service.” The early train and the South Shore commuter line will still serve the depot. “We’re not eliminating service entirely,” Munn concluded.
Passengers on the entire commuter line, however, fear that “eliminating service entirely “may be just what Penn Central 一 or officials of the United States Railway Association 一 have in mind.
About three weeks ago, a committee of passengers prepared leaflets warning of the possible discontinuance of the line and placed them on all seats in the two commuter trains. “Hoosier Power” the paper urged in big letters, asking concerned riders to write the elected officials in their area.
“Off and on” for 20 years, Charles Stanton of Hamlet has ridden the “dummy.” in order to give himself plenty of time for 30-mile drive from his home to Valparaiso, Stanton arises each morning at 3:30 a.m.
“I wouldn’t want to drive into Chicago,” he said. “I suppose I would drive to Michigan City and ride the South Shore.” An employe for a Chicago electrical firm, Stanton explained that he commutes because he likes the high Chicago wages and his native rural area around Hamlet.
Why does he ride the Valparaiso-Chicago commuter line? “Because it costs $65 a month to ride this train and about $88, I’m told, to ride the South Shore.”
“I suppose I could drive or go on early pension,” asserts Robert Pieper, an employee of the Chicago Transit Authority. “I’m getting close to the age where I could go on early pension if I wanted.”
A gregarious man with twinkling eyes, Valparaiso resident Pieper refers to his 29 years of commuting as “absolute drudgery.”
Sue McInerney, Valparaiso, has ridden the train for a year now to her job as a credit clerk at the Continental Bank. “It’s a hassle sometimes,” she admits, “we moved here a year ago from Chicago and I got the job so I could still visit my friends.”
A novice at the commuting game is Valparaiso resident John McGuire. “I just started riding the train three weeks ago and will probably continue riding it here on out.”
Commending the train for its “on time service,” McGuire questions the large financial loss Penn Central claims on the line every year. “It’s hard to believe they are not making money. I would have no objection if they raised the rate 一 by a nominal amount, anyway.”
McGuire suggests that officials try “selling anything else. It would also be nice if they had air conditioning.”
One man who is particularly fond of the line is Fred Wood, a research analyst with Standard Oil. “While riding the train, I wrote a book which is now in its sixth printing,” he said.
A commuter for eight years, Wood spent three writing the book. “The ride is smooth and there are no interruptions. No phones and it isn’t ‘Honey do’ time 一 you know, ‘honey do this’ and ‘honey do that.’
“If the line isn’t subsidized, I will probably have to move.”
Although the regular long-term travelers have strong feelings of loyalty toward the line, their ranks are apparently diminishing, according to statistics provided by Penn Central officials. A recent head count, according to Munn, showed a 25 per cent drop from 1974 figures in the number of passengers.
“We miss the young people,” explained Munn, himself a 32-year veteran of jobs in the passenger service line. “When the economy is bad, like it is now, there is more unemployment 一 and the young people are the ones who usually get the axe. They are also more adventurous. Many young people who work in Chicago want to live in Chicago.”
‘It Is Up To Indiana’
The Valparaiso-Chicago commuter line has been operating so long that even the top Penn Central officials aren’t sure when service first started.
“The line was operating prior to 1929,” stated William Butler, administrative assistant to the general manager in the Penn Central regional office in Chicago. “Unfortunately, there are very few people around now who might be able to tell you when it began.”
Officials at the Penn Central main office in Philadelphia explained that old records are periodically destroyed, to make room for more recent information. Apparently, records of the Valparaiso-Chicago commuter line were among the discarded papers, since no data on the service before 1969 is available.
Generally speaking, if you lump together all the passenger operations, they were profitable through 1929,” said Cecil Muldoon, assistant director of public relations for the railroad company. “Then we were hit by the Depression.”
When World War II began, however, travelling on trains was back in vogue since gasoline rationing curtailed auto traffic. “Since 1944, passenger train operations have been losers,” he continued. “And commuter operations lead the way.”
Muldoon and others attribute the loss on the Valparaiso-Chicago commuter line, which totaled $843,000 last year, to skyrocketing costs.
We can’t afford to keep losing money on the line,” asserted Muldoon, who added that the Valparaiso line was one of only two 一 the other a line from Baltimore to Washington 一 that Penn Central maintained solely, with no subsidy from the area.
“A lot of cost is due to the increase in wages for labor,” according to James Munn, Penn Central manager of customer services. “Material 一 especially fuel 一 has also jumped up tremendously.”
Statistics provided by the Chicago regional office show that 1974 revenue from the Valparaiso-commuter line was $438,509, with operating expenses totalling $1,282,000. Projected revenue for 1975 in $486,000, according to Muldoon.
Officials were overjoyed in 1973, when the number of revenue passengers shot up 40,000 for the year. In 1972, statistics show up 40,000 for the year. In 1973, statistics show that 398,963 passengers shot up 40,000 for the year. In 1972, statistics show up 40,000 for the year. In 1972, statistics show that 398,963 passengers traveled on the train, while 437,435 rode the line in 1973 一 a record.
Although hesitant to attribute the increase to the energy crisis which began with the Arab oil embargo in October, 1973, officials admit that the number of passengers dropped to 434,725 in 1974 when gasoline became more plentiful at higher prices. A head count taken in September also revealed that the amount of riders may decrease by 25 per cent by the end of this year.
The greatest number of passengers traveling to Chicago between Sept. 17 and Sept. 23 was 534 persons riding on the 6:35 a.m train. On that same day, only 194 people traveled to Chicago on the earlier 5:55 a.m. train. During that same week, the round-trip total for both trains was about 1450-550 lower than estimates for the previous year.
“According to our statistics, for every dollar in passenger revenue we receive, it is costing the railroad $2.82,” Butler said.
Noting that the Illinois Regional Transit Authority (RTA) wasn’t interested in subsidizing the commuter line since it stopped only in Indiana, officials hope that Indiana 一 particularly Lake and Porter counties 一 will move to keep the operation going.
“When ConRail takes over March 1, I don’t know what their plans will be,” Muldoon said, explaining that even many of the railroad employes don’t know if they will be kept or released from their jobs. “Most railroad people are protected employes, if they have worked for the company at least five years,” he said. “But the top people are not protected.”
“The Penn Central has not made application to discontinue the line,” Muldoon continued. “Our number one aim, presently, is to get Lake and Porter counties to subsidize the line. We would not apply for discontinuance until we were sure the counties were not interested.”
“It is up to ConRail and Indiana who will maintain the service,” Butler said. “As far as we are concerned, we have completed our objectives of making the line manageable and efficient.”
