Most of the railroads had historical connections with Western Union. Very few of them had relationships with Postal-Telegraph, which put Postal at a considerable disadvantage. At the beginning of World War II, the goverment forced the merging of W.U. and Postal [Telegraph]. However, Pacific Telegraph continued to operate (a service of Pacific Bell), along with Canadian Pacific Telegraphs, which operated in Maine and also some places in the border area north of Minnesota. Western Union tariffs singled out these places and the rate was often the combination of rates. Most manned railroad stations were also W.U. branches, with the operators getting a stipend or payment from W.U. for their work as W.U. operators. This was cosidered normal by the railroad as well and not as doing other work on company time. Conductors on passenger trains would receive telegrams from passengers on the train and give them to the operator at the next station to send. They would also take messages the operator received for a passenger on their train. A practice that was much more common before the telephone became so dominant. In small towns, the railroad operator would often be the only Western Union office. In somewhat larger places, the railroad W.U. office might be open longer hours. Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com