Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen was a North American railroad fraternal benefit society and trade union in the 19th and 20th centuries. The organization began in 1873 as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, a mutual benefit society for workers employed as firemen for steam locomotives, before expanding its name in 1907 in acknowledgement that many of its members had been promoted to the job of railroad engineer. Gradually taking on the functions of a trade union over time, in 1969 the B of LF&E merged with three other railway labor organizations to form the United Transportation Union.
Logo of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen established in 1873, but from 1907 known as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen
Joshua A. Leach, founder of the B of LF and Grand Master of the organization from 1873 to 1876
Poster from 1873
An early membership transfer card of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (Central Lodge, Urbana, IL, 1878)
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the US. A year later it was renamed the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The B of LE took its present name in 2004 when it became a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
Cover of the 1867 debut issue of the Monthly Journal, official organ of the B of LE.
Time magazine cover from 10 March 1924 featuring Warren Stanford Stone
1871 life insurance policy