Railway employees guide
Employment with the Railways covered a large range of positions, including working as a driver, cleaner, engineer, draftsman, inspector, timekeeper, porter, ganger etc.
Overview
Railway service provision commenced on 26 September 1855 when the first trains operated on the Sydney-Parramatta or the 'Great Trunk' line. In its first full year of operation over 350,000 passengers had used the service. Passenger traffic continued to be the largest single purpose for train journeys in the nineteenth century and accounted for more than half of all train miles traversed. By 1871 of a total of 931, 333 miles travelled 537, 846 miles were by passenger trains. In 1880 the Commissioner for railways observed that the number of passengers had risen from 776,707 to 5,440,138 in a decade during which time the miles of railway line had increased from 339 to 849 miles.[1]
Thousands of people were needed in order for the trains to run on time. Employment with the Railways covered a large range of positions, including working as a driver, cleaner, engineer, draftsman, inspector, timekeeper, porter, ganger etc.
Did your ancestor work on the Railways?
Establishing if your ancestor was employed by the railways is the first step to researching the records.
- A death certificate may indicate whether your ancestor worked for the railways
- There may be family stories handed down through generations, or from surviving relatives who knew that a member of the family was working on the railways.
Search the index
Railway employment records 1856-1917
The index records the name, position, date of appointment and page number within the register. There are 763 entries
Access to railway employee records
Personal history cards of railway workers are Closed to Public Access for 30 years from the date of separation (the date the employee left the organisation).
For permission to access closed records contact:
Transport for NSW
Information and Privacy Office
Email: information@transport.nsw.gov.au
Tel: (02) 8202 3768
List of main record series
Please note some of the record series are still identified by the original State Rail 'R' number. This number will be replaced by a NRS (New South Wales Record Series) number in due course.
Series | Title | Dates |
---|---|---|
Personal History Cards - Employees born between 1900 and 1962 These cards record appointment and service history details of railway employees born after 1900.The cards were kept by the Finance Branch for superannuation purposes and include employees from a range of metropolitan and country locations.If you are unable to visit the Western Sydney reading room you can order a copy from this series of the Personal History Cards via the Copy Service page. | Employees born 1900-1962 | |
Personal history cards - country and metropolitan employees These cards cover people primarily from country regions and workshops.Noted dates of birth range from 1898 to 1967 and almost all entries on the cards, with a few exceptions, are prior to the end of 1986. | 1928-1986Employees born 1898-1967 | |
Personal History Cards - Employees born before 1900The cards show details relating to an individual's employment e.g. name, date of birth, educational qualifications and details of service.If you are unable to visit the Western Sydney reading room you can order a copy from this series of the Personal History Cards via the Copy Service page. | Employees born pre-1900 | |
Register of salaried officers Lists employment details of salaried officers working for the NSW Government Railways and Tramways during the period 1856-1890, including name, office, date of appointment, authority, remarks and a 'Remarks' column which notes salary changes, promotions, resignations, retirements, and acting position.Search the entries in the register » | 1856-1890 | |
Nominal Roll of the First Railway Section, Australian Imperial Expeditionary Forces (AIF) This volume provides details of railway employees who formed the 1st Railway Section of the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force, including name, rank, age, marital status, trade or calling, address at date of enrolment, next of kin and address, religion, date of joining, unit for those already serving in the military, per-diem paid before and after embarkation, daily rate of deferred pay, name and address of allottee and remarks. Included is a group photograph of the 1st Railway Section taken at the Sydney Show Ground prior to departure for France.Search the entries in the register » | 5 Feb 1917-29 Jan 1920 | |
Personnel Register - Darling Harbour This volume details the employment history of workers at Darling Harbour Goods Yard. Information recorded includes employee's name, date of birth, position, station and salary. Industrial relations issues relating to the strike of August 1917 and subsequent employment of temporary staff are also documented. The records of employees who did not participate in the Railway Strike of 1917 have their entries stamped '6/8/1917. - Remained loyal. All prior offences expunged.'Search the entries in the register » | 24 Apr 1909-7 Jul 1932 |
Other series of personal history cards
This is a list of railway employment records that have been kept by various departments within State Rail over many years. Once you are sure your family member worked on the railways these records may help you to fill in the details of their employment.
Series | Title | Dates |
---|---|---|
Signals & Communications Branch | c. 1920-1990 | |
Trading & Catering Service | c. 1920-1990 | |
Personal History Cards, Stores Branch | c.1920-1990 | |
Personal History Cards, Traffic Branch | c.1900-c.1990 | |
Personal history cards for employees of the Division Engineer's branch, Newcastle | 1900-1999 | |
Personal History Cards from Area Operations Manager, Junee | c.1913-1993 | |
Personal History Cards, Traffic Branch | c.1926-1988 | |
Personal History Cards from District Superintendent, Lithgow | c.1915-c.1989 | |
Personal History Cards, Support Services | c.1935-c.1988 | |
Personal History Cards, Division Engineer, Wagga Wagga | c.1927-c.1989 | |
Programme Engineer Branch - Prince Alfred Siding, Prior | 1940-1985 | |
Personal History Cards, District Superintendent, Newcastle | c.1930-c.1990 | |
Personal History Cards, Tamworth Division | c.1940-c.1980 | |
Personal History Cards, Mechanical Branch | 1920-c.1988 | |
Personal History Cards, Mechanical Branch, Eveleigh Workshops | c.1920-c.1988 | |
Personal History Cards, Way & Works Administration | 1921-1988 | |
Personal History Cards, Electric Car Workshops Chullora (Elcar) | 1926-1991 | |
Personal History Cards, Orange District Traffic Branch | 1912-1986 |
Related records
The records listed here are not as popular or extensively used as some of the other examples listed above. Many of these records only cover a limited time period.
NSW Government Gazettes
Lists of Railway employees were published every 3 years in the Government Gazettes from 1891-1939. We hold copies of printed lists up to 1909 in our Reading Room. You can also search the Government Gazettes online on the Trove website using the term “New south wales government railways and tramways list of persons employed”.
The General Strike of 1917
The General Strike or the Great Strike of 1917 lasted for six weeks from 2 August until the 8 September. It started in the Randwick Workshops and Eveleigh Carriage Shops over the introduction of a card system to record what each worker was doing and how fast the job was being completed. The workers were not allowed to view or modify the card and the monitoring system could be used to identify 'slow workers'. The strike quickly spread from the railways in New South Wales to other industries such as coal mines, wharfies, factories and warehouses and into other States until about 100,000 workers were on Strike.1
Eveleigh Workshops during the 1917 railway strike
On 2 August 1917 the General Strike began. It started in the Randwick Rail Workshops & Eveleigh Carriage Workshops & quickly spread to other industries until about 100,000 workers were on strike
References
1. John Gunn, Along Parallel Lines: A history of the railways of New South Wales 1850-1986, Melbourne University Press, 1989, p.286.
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