Railway companies

Comprehensive staff records in the RAIL group of records only survive for a few of the major railway companies, and there is no overall index to the names of employees. A list of companies with surviving staff records appears as an appendix at the end of the Railways: Staff Records Research Guide. Many records are records of wages and salaries and give no personal details of individuals. To undertake a successful search it is necessary to identify which company the person worked for, and the capacity in which they were employed. If you do not know the company but know where they worked, consult the British Railways Pre Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer in the Opening Reading Room and The Railway & Commercial Gazetteer for England, Scotland and Wales, various editions in ZPER 139. These show which companies owned or operated through particular stations.

Most records for staff that have served since the Second World War, and were employed by British Railways, remain with the railway industry for pension and other purposes. Railway staff records may also be found in local record offices. Appendix 3 of CJ Edwards, Railway Records: A Guide to Sources (PRO 2001) provides a guide to which record offices hold records. It is also worth conducting a search on the A2A (Access to Archives) website.

Staff Records

Some company records include staff registers usually giving name, occupation and place of work. An entry will normally record the starting pay, any increases, bonuses and allowances. Records of non-clerical staff can also detail fines for misdemeanours. Periods of absence and ill health can also be described, as well as any sickness payments, or details of medical discharge or retirement. There may be name indexes, either integral or in separate volumes. The records can be arranged in different ways, by place of work, staff number, or the department in which the individual worked. If these are known, then it is fairly easy to consult the correct register, if not, then it maybe necessary to consult several types of records.

Staff whose work concerned operations, such as guards, porters, signalmen, may often be found under headings, such as 'Traffic' or 'Coaching'. Engine drivers, enginemen, firemen, cleaners, wagon repairers and workshop staff may be found under 'Locomotive' or 'Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon'. Staff handling collection, delivery or merchandise may be found under 'Goods Handling' or 'Commercial'. Track maintenance staff (platelayers) and those engaged on bridge and station construction or maintenance may come under 'Engineering' and staff that installed or maintained signalling equipment may be found under 'Signal' or 'Signal and Telegraph'.

In addition, there are various miscellaneous groups covering Stores, Marine, Continental, Ticket Printing etc. Management and clerical staff are usually recorded separately from uniformed staff and appear under headings such as Accountant's or Audit Office, or by Office, such as Headquarters, Divisional Superintendent or Secretary's Office, or simply Clerical Staff.

The ZPER and ZLIB series contains periodicals formerly held by the British Transport Historical Records Office library, comprising periodicals on general transport topics, railways, and railway company magazines, some of which contain articles on staff anniversaries, retirements etc.