All the organizations and their names confuse me as to who is in each one in about 1900. Do I have this correct?? You have:
B of R Engineers--operated the train engine
B of R Firemen--stoked the fire with coal/wood
B of R Trainmen--not sure here--is this different from a brakeman. What is a trainman???
B of R Conductors--conductor
B of R Telegraphers--telegrapher
Switchmen's Union of North America-switch the tracks

When these men switched jobs, did they switch watches? Could you have a BRE dial in a BRF case? OR a BRT in a SUNA Case OR any other combo??

Engineers operate the engine consist.

Firemen are in training to become an engineer.

Trainmen are brakemen that handle the cars on/in a train. They generally were in freight service that transported trains over the road between two points, destinations, or terminals.

Conductors are in charge of the government on/in a train along with the engineer. In the absence of the conductor, the engineer is then in charge.

Telegraphers were responsible for relaying train handling instructions and track conditions to all that handled trains & engines and those who worked on the tracks and those who might foul a track with other equipment.

Switchmen are employees within a yard system of tracks where cars are stored, sorted, and scheduled for pick up and disposition. Generally there is a foremen and his helpers in charge of ground work, switches, and cars. Also on the job were an engineer and sometimes a fireman that made up the crew.

Railroad employees generally only had one railroad grade/railroad approved watch at a time used in the performance of their duties, maintained according to the carriers current rules, and accompanied with a watch card with notations as to random inspections by railroad officers as well as servicing dates and jewelers who have worked on, serviced, or inspected the watch.

regards,
bb

Thank you for the great explanation of the jobs.

Paul to further clarify your question here is some biographical information on the Railroad Brotherhoods and Orders

There was no. Brotherhood of Railroad Engineers, or Brotherhood of Railroad Firemen, the correct organizations are the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers organized on May 8, 1863 in Marshall, Michigan, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen organized on December 1, 1873 in Port Jervis, New York this organization changed its name in 1906 to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen, both organizations were headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio

The Brotherhood of Railroad Brakeman of the Northern Hemisphere were organized on September 23, 1883 in Oneonta, New York it was a small organization of freight brakeman to begin with but steady growth, and the addition of baggagemen, passenger trainmen, yardmen, and yard master's brought about a change to the name of the organization in 1891 and became known as the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, with headquarters moved from Galesburg, Illinois to Cleveland, Ohio.

Tommie J. Wright an Illinois Central Railroad conductor 22 years old, seeing the working conditions of no job security, and abuse, plus the daily ever present danger of the carnage from using "link and pin" couplers, and inadequate handbrakes came up with the idea to form a Conductors Brotherhood in 1868. The Illinois Central and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads crossed each other at Mendota, Illinois, and word soon spread to the CB&Q and Amboy conductors which resulted in the formation of the Galesburg, Illinois Division No.2 of the Conductors Union, Division No. 3 was organized at Aurora, Illinois, the management of the Burlington destroyed the infant organizers with threats of dismissal and hiring replacement workers, but the men were determined and carried on their fight and in 1878, the name was changed to the Order of Railway Conductors of America and Cedar Rapids, Iowa became the headquarters.

The above for organization that represented the operating crafts of the North American railroads and railways became known as "Big Four" and work together to bring about change with better wages working conditions, safety appliances, and the eight hour workday.

The Switchman's Union of North America was formed in Kansas City, Missouri on October 23, 1894 as a reorganization of the Switchman's Mutual Aid Association an insurance group and headquarters were moved to Buffalo, New York, they represented yard switchmen in the larger terminals of the United States and Canada.

While the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers remained independent, with declining memberships due to technological change, and declining passenger train operations in North America the conductors, firemen, trainmen, and switchman merged together in 1969 and formed the United Transportation Union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers merged with the Teamsters Union in 2004 and changed their name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

While not directly involved with the movement of trains a group of railroad telegraphers met in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on June 9, 1896 and formed the Order of Railroad Telegraphers they moved their headquarters to St. Louis Missouri, and merged with the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks to form the Transportation Communications Employees Union in 1969. Other groups soon followed, including the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, along with some Supervisors Association. In 2005t he TCU members voted to merge with the International Association of Machinists

Larry

Hi Larry,
You are a wealth of information.
I have an early Waltham with the logo RMA AF of L, I take to mean the Railway mail association, is/was that a Rail union or a postal union ? The AF of L, is the American Federation of Labour I think.
Have I got this right, or am I way off base.
Thanks for any input,
Bill

Thanks Larry, for an excellent bit of analysis.

Thanks Debbie, and on a broader note to new members, chances are most any general question you may have has already been asked, answered and discussed at length MANY times, so learning to use the forum "search" function is an important skill to master that will make life easier for everyone.

Hello Bill:

I think your Waltham is from the Recording Musicians Association that were affiliated with the American Federation of Labour, the AFL that was founded in Columbus Ohio 1886 represented craft unions its first president was Samuel Gompers from the Cigar Makers International Union it later merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations that was created in 1935 by unions that were expelled from the AFL and catered more to industrial unions like the autoworkers, this merger took place in 1955 forming the AFL-CIO.

Larry

Hi again Larry,
Well it is possible the watch logo represents the musicians,the best I could find down that road was that group started in the 50's. I should mention the watch is ca: 1920.
I did find an article at www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org/articles/THE_RMS.DOC that shows the RMA (railway mail assn ) started in the late 1800's as the National assn of railway postal clerks, and changed to the Railway Mail Assn. in 1904. In the article afformentioned it also tells us of the connection with the AF of L, and some further changes to the union. Makes good reading, and I am still unsure whether it is a RR union, a Post Office union or what, as much as it was to look after mail workers on trains in the event of death or injury.
This is what makes parts of this hobby so very interesting.
Thanks for your input.
Bill