Engines and Men/Foreword
Foreword
By Mr. John Bromley, General Secretary.
It has long been my desire to have compiled a History of our Society, as I have felt that the record of a Society like our own, which has had such a continued struggle, would lend itself particularly well to such a project, and that it would be not only a source of delight to our older members, and an inspiration to the younger ones, but a great record for us all,
It was not, however, until June, 1920, that I was able to find time to collect all the mass of requisite material and place the matter in the hands of Mr. J. R. Raynes, himself a skilled Journalist and a writer of books, with the result that after nearly a year of hard work on the part of Mr. Raynes I am able to write foreword to this volume and present it to our members, in the hope and with the sincere wish that it may be a delight to every one of its readers; that older members may in its pages be able to fight their battles over again, and joy in the accomplishment of at least some of their Sadly ideas, and in dreams which have come true. That younger members may, by reading of the
"Old, unhappy, far-off things
And battles long aga,"
realise some of the immensity of the early struggles, and thereby he enthused to carry on the good work with renewed courage and ever greater energy.
I feel that not only will this book be valuably informative as a chronological record of the Society's progress, but a real inspiration to all interested members, for it will be impossible for anyone reading, first of the formation and early vicissitudes of the Society, then tracing its progress step by step through forty years of storm and sun, until finally success begins to crown the efforts and our present position is reached, without themselves feeling an uplifting and a keen desire to buckle on their own armour and perform deeds of "derring do" in carrying the Society to yet greater successes in the near and distant future.
This History is packed with solid information for the student of our Society's work and efforts, and also carries with it a condensed record of the evolution of the Locomotive and of the Railways of this country generally, and should therefore commend itself to every one of our members.
It is in some respects almost pathetic to read of the very moderate demands of the members in years gone by, and to compare them with those of the present day, put forward by men strong in their knowledge of a powerful Union behind them, with a greater realisation of what they are entitled to demand from society, and with a breadth of vision undared by the early pioneers:
How interesting to compare the figures of funds and membership at the end of 1882 with those of the close of 1920. In the former year we find the total receipts to have been £1,652 17s. 6d., expenditure £873 2s. 7½d., the funds at the end of the year being E2,966 3s: 3½d,, whilst some twenty. Branches boasted of a combined total membership of 671. At the end of 1920 we find 439 Branches with 71,344 members, several individual Branches having a greater number of members than the whole Society numbered in 1882, income £123,536 7s. 11d., expenditure £68,164 10s. 9d., and total funds £256,468 3s. 7d.
What an achievement, having regard to the difficulties which have been overcome. Yet we know there are yet greater heights to climb, greater events even than those recorded here are before us, and in humbly submitting this book to all our splendid members who man the iron horse or juggle with the electric mystery, I hope and believe that the men will be found to do credit to the heritage our pioneers have left to us, by fearlessly facing and overcoming all dangers and difficulties; and that our great Society may carry on from strength to strength, from success to even greater success, is the earnest wish of
Yours sincerely,
J. Bromley.