Maybe you think the conductor of a passenger train is only the man who takes tickets and says “All Aboard.” But he really is the boss of the whole train. Even the engineer must follow his signals. That’s why they call the conductor the Captain.

The brakeman is the conductor’s helper. Together they collect tickets or fares and help passengers on and off at stations.

On the slick, fast trains called streamliners the conductor has quite a job to do. Many of the passengers are making long trips, so they have complicated tickets that allow them to stop at several places and then come home again. The conductor has to check the tickets and make sure they are right.

For short trips, conductors and brakemen take care of everything. But a streamliner needs a lot of other people who do special jobs.

The first one you’re likely to meet is the stewardess. She makes passengers comfortable. She answers questions and points out things that are particularly interesting to look at through the window.

At night the stewardess brings pillows to coach passengers and helps them tilt their seats back. In some cars, each seat has a leg-rest that pulls out, making a sort of couch for anyone who wants a nap.

The stewardess usually gives extra attention to children. She may read them stories in the playroom at the end of one car, or give them crayons and coloring books, or play records for them. She even has a supply of diapers for small babies and a refrigerator to keep their milk cool.

A streamliner is really a sort of hotel on wheels. The observation car is like a lobby, with big soft chairs and sofas, tables full of magazines, a radio and desks for writing letters. At one end is a telephone booth where you can call up anyone you want to. This telephone works by radio. The radio operator on the train connects you with a regular telephone operator who completes the call over ordinary phone wires.

If you need a haircut, you can visit a barbershop on the train. Porters will press your clothes and shine your shoes for you. You can buy ice cream sodas at the snack bar. A businessman who wants to do some work can ask the train’s stenographer to type out letters for him. And no matter how disagreeable the weather is outside, a streamliner is comfortable for it is air-conditioned.

Most fun of all are the streamliners that have double-decker cars called Vista-Domes and Astra-Domes. The dome sticks up above the car like an oversized caboose cupola. Like the freight brakeman, you can sit in the upper deck, look out through the windows in the dome and see everything around you. Daytimes there may be mountains. At night, you can lean back in the adjustable seat and watch the stars.

Streamliners go very fast, but not too fast for safety. Beside the track are signs that tell the engineer what the speed limits are. For extra safety, the locomotive may have a powerful headlight that sends out its beam like a searchlight. The beam travels across the sky in a figure-eight movement far ahead. People on highways see it and are warned to stop at grade crossings in plenty of time.