NEW JANUARY 2024.  This booklet was apparently issued jointly in 1925 by the National Union of Railwaymen and the Locomotive Running Department of the LNER.  It was for LNER drivers, firemen and engine cleaners.  Initially they had continued with the arrangements of their constituent companies, and this one was for men in what they called Area No. 1 which was the GE Section.

The booklet has 48 pages, plus a rather tatty front cover. Its purpose was to let their staff know about how they stood on the ladder of promotion. The first ten pages describe various routines and the arrangements agreed between the LNER and the Union - these include eyesight tests and medical examinations, and describe the set-up in promotional area No. 1 with a list of all the ex-GE depots and outstations.

There follow two maps of the Area - a suburban one, and another showing all the lines in the whole of the country area.

A crucial matter for each individual was his seniority within the chain.  The main part of the booklet is a list of all the men one by one to tell them where they stood.  The most senior driver on the GE Section at that time, we learn, was Staff No.1 who was B Puttock with a service dating right back to 20 June 1874 - on the GER, surely?  Unfortunately their depots are not recorded.

The list continues right through (with gaps) to Staff No.4383 - very much a junior who began his career on 26 December 1923. On the final couple of pages, the list is reset and begins again with Staff No.2 on 7 January 1924 (presumably because the LNER had now introduced their own system).. The final entry in this edition of the booklet is No.149 who had started on 11 February 1925.

This copy is in the possession of the Brewster Centre @ the Colne Valley Railway, and our thanks go to them for willingly agreeing we might offer it in our Files Emporium, and to our member Nick Ellis whoscanned it.

 The file is word-searchable and we have added bookmarks to all the main sections. It will be available to download as soon as payment has been made. You go to your account and click on ‘Downloads’. New customers create an account as they place their order.