Railroad Employment

Railroad Employment captures the physically demanding and relentless pace of work in a 1930s steam engine cab. In the foreground, the fireman stokes the furnace, creating steam for speed, while the engineer, positioned above, opens up the throttle. Both figures are focused forward and bent in exertion, demonstrating the great mental and physical effort required to bring the train in on time. It was for such individuals that the Railroad Retirement Act was passed in 1935, providing unemployment insurance and pensions for America’s railway workers.

In 1940, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned Robert Kittredge to create a pair of bas reliefs for the C Street entrances to the new headquarters of the Railroad Retirement Board. The panels, Railroad Employment and Railroad Retirement, depict the labor of railway workers and the security and benefits assured to them, their spouses, and survivors. The Railroad Retirement Board was created in 1935 and was meant to occupy this building, but it never did so due to the demands of World War II. Nevertheless, the Board remains active and serves hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries each year from its headquarters in Chicago.