GWR internal publications
Rule books
The 'Rule Book' contained general instructions regarding responsibilities and regulations necessary for the safe operation of the railway. Certain activities or areas of reponsibility were not included in either the Rule Book or General Appendix to the Rule Book, and so the company also published detailed Rules and Regulations specific to particular areas of operation. Employees issued with such books were expected to both familiarise themselves with, and follow, all the content.
Early editions
Early rule books were about 4" x 6 ¼" in size and varied slightly in the number of pages they contained with very few illustrations being included. The cover bore the cipher of the Great Western Railway replaced in later editions with the wording 'Great Western Railway - Rules and Regulations'. The inside title page was a bit more formal declaring it to be 'Rules and Regulations for the Guidance of the Officers and Men'. The last paragraph of the introduction stated that Every Servant supplied with this Book must make himself thoroughly acquainted with, and will be held responsible for a knowledge of, and compliance with, the whole of the following Rules and Regulations.The earliest example of a rule book in our collection dates from 1897 and contains 158 pages with 281 rules. Rules 280 and 281Click or tap to see these rules are of particular historic note as they specify how uniform time was to be kept across the whole of the railway network. Whilst railways had adopted Greenwich Mean Time (or Railway Standard Time) by the late 1840s it was not until 2nd August 1880 when Greenwich Mean Time, was officially approved by Parliament for use across the whole of the country. By 1913 the book had shrunk to 155 pages but still detailed 281 rules.
The 1923 edition was published to coincide with grouping and had shrunk further to 130 pages whilst still containing 281 rules. It had, however, grown in overall size to about 4⅝" x 7⅛". Our example is inscribed with A.Waple Chief Engineer's Office Paddington and contains four updates dating from 1924, 1925, and 1926.
1897 edition
1897 edition title page
1897 edition introduction
1905 edition
1913 edition
1923 edition
Later editions
Now about 4⅜" x 5⅝", our copy from 1933 has grown to 228 pages but the number of rules has been reduced to 240. Again, the number of pages was to vary slightly between editions, but from now on there remained 240 rules. Rather than going to the expense of reprinting and re-issuing a new edition each time there was a variation in the rules amendment sheets might be issued instead. Our 1933 edition contains amendments (or Supplements) number 6, dated July 1936, through to number 12, dated July 1939. Things could get complicated if a page was amended several times or, as sometimes happened, a rule was amended more than once. Each Supplement was accompanied by a record sheet which was to be pasted into the back of the book, and a tear off portion at the bottom had to be signed and returned to acknowledge its receipt. The 1933 edition of the Rule Book was reprinted in 1945 to incorperate all the supplements, numbered 1 to 14, which had been issued to that time.
The tone of the wording inside has been changed from the early editions. The title page now more simply states 'Rules for Observance by Employees', and the final paragraph of the introduction now requires that Each employee supplied with this book must make himself acquainted with, and will be held responsible for the obsevance of, the following Rules.
British Railways published its own version of the book in 1950. It had grown to 274 pages, but still contains 240 rules and its overall size and format wass largely unchanged from the GWR publications. Whilst the introduction had been reduced, the final paragraph remained unaltered and still read Each employee supplied with this book must make himself acquainted with, and will be held responsible for the obsevance of, the following Rules.
1933 edition
1933 edition title page
1933 edition with multiple amendments
1933 edition amendment record
1933 edition reprinted 1938
1933 edition reprinted 1945
British Railways 1950 edition
Extracts from the Rule Book
At their meeting on 26th May, 1944, the Board of Directors approved an abridged copy of the code of Rules for the guidance of the Company's employees not connected with the operational working of the railway or engaged on the permanent way or on works affecting the running lines. This slim limp back booklet was titled 'Extracts from the Rule Book for Observance by Employees'. There were no illustrations and, as the title suggests, it contained a selection of the 240 rules from the full sized book. One interesting rule which caught our eye was rule 163 which stated that Newspapers or other parcels must not be thrown from trains when passing through stations or other places where the train does not stop, unless specially sanctioned by the Operating Superintendant.
It would appear that only two editions of this booklet were ever published by the GWR, the 1947 edition being a reprint of the original 1944 one to incorporate a single supplement. Both editions contained 32 pages and were about 4¼" wide but the first one was 5¼" tall with the later one being slightly larger at 5½". British Railways went on to publish their own versions but these were slimmed down to 16 pages each, had card covers rather than the more durable reinforced GWR versions, and had dropped the wording for Observance by Employees from the title. Whilst containing fewer rules, the 1950 edition still went up to rule 240 which concerned the carriage of explosives and dangerous goods, although this had been very much reduced in extent. This rule had been dropped altogether in the reprinted and amended edition of 1961.
1944 edition
1944 edition reprinted 1947
1950 edition
1950 edition reprinted 1961
General Appendix to the Rule Book
This limp-back book was much larger than those above being about 6" x 9½". It was also much thicker with the 1920 edition running to 335 pages, and the one from 1936 containing 344. These books specified how the railway was to be run and contained sections dealing with signalling, the working of trains, the loading and conveyance of merchandise and livestock, and instructions concerning station work. By their very nature these reference books tended to be very well used. Our copy from 1920 has lost its red front cover and been repaired with tape, but otherwise appears to be in original condition with no amendments. The 1936 edition however has pasted amendments up to 1951 and seven further loose (BR Western Region) updates covering 1952 to 1959 and its blue cover has become detached but remains complete.
1920 edition
1936 edition
Many of the illustrations from the 1920 edition were retained in the one from 1936 although some new ones were introduced and those no longer applicable being dropped. The biggest change was that the fold-out sheet detailing the standard GWR singals was replaced by individual pages coloured red, yellow or green where appropriate. These were the only pages to carry any colour. We have two copies of this book in the collection, one is as isued, and the other contains pasted amendments to 1951 and seven further loose (BR Western Region) updates covering 1952 to 1959 (G.A.29-36).
Our collection also holds two examples of complete and unused amendment sheets, G.A.16 dated July 1930Click or tap to see the outside cover and G.A.17 dated June 1931. As with amenndments for the smaller Rule Book, such amendments were issued as stapled booklets with pages printed on one side only so they could be cut and pasted into the books in the relevant places.
Telegraph Appendix to the Rule Book
The 1906 edition of this limp-back book was about 6" x 9¾" and contained 31 page. In it were detailed the rules and regulations concerning the handling of all types of telegraphic communications. The frontispiece carried the explanation that The Instructions printed in ordinary type in this book have been agreed for general adoption by all Railway Companies. The Instructions printed in italics apply only to the Great Western system and to Joint Lines under Great Western control. Our copy has pasted in the front an accompanying circular which draws the reader's attention to some amendments from the previous edition of 1905 and confirms that this edition comes into effect on February 1st 1906.
1906 edition
Cartage Instructions
The very long title of this 70 page book was 'Instructions to Foremen, Carmen, Van-guards, Checkers, Loaders, & others employed in the Cartage Department' and it is dated September 1915. At about 4" x 6⅛" this small hard back book was no doubt designed to be carried in one's pocket so that it could be referred to at any time and contains sections on the acceptance, packaging and labelling of goods for carriage. It bears the stamp of the 'G.W.R. Goods Department Paddington' dated 'Feb 22 1918' at the front and, on the inside rear coverthat of 'Great Western Railway Paddington Goods Station' dated 'Mar 8 17'.
The long title of this book is now 'Instructions to Foremen, Motordrivers, Carters, Van-guards, Checkers, Loaders, and others associated with Cartage Operations' reflecting changing times. At about 4⅜" x 5⅝" our 1933 edition is 74 pages long and makes for fascinating reading as it now contains sections on 'Hints to Motordrivers with a view to Economy in Petrol Consumption' and the operation of Motor Vehicles and Horse Vehicles.
This book, being dated 1933, was produced at an interesting time as far as driving was concerned. The first edition of the Highway Code had been published in 1931 but it was not until June 1st 1935 that every motorist who had started driving on or after April 1st 1934 was required to pass a test. This book contains a section on the Road Traffic Act of 1930 and another relating to the examination of motor drivers before being allowed to drive for the company. Two of the skills which apparently had to be demonstrated were to 'Maintain a steady course without "wobbling"' and to 'Change gears, both up and down'.
