Wednesday 6 January 2016

REGULATIONS FOR ENGINEMEN 1847

REGULATIONS FOR ENGINEMEN
 
At a Meeting of the Board of Directors held on the 11th of September, 1847, it was

Ordered,
That the following code of Rules and Regulations be, and the same is hereby approved and adopted for the guidance and instruction of the Officers and Men in the service of the London and North-Western Railway Company, and that all former Rules and Regulations inconsistent with the same be cancelled.

Ordered,
That every person in the service do keep a copy of these Regulations on his person while on duty under a penalty of five shillings for neglect of the same.
By order of the Board of Directors.
CAPTAIN MARK HUISH,
                 General Manager,
     London and North Western Railway.

White Trousers

"Far be it for me to question your authenticity, but why are you wearing white trousers?"

The answer, in a nutshell, is simple: unbleached, undyed, simple weave cloth such as canvas is cheap, hard wearing and can be boil washed. Most European armies during late 18th and most of the 19th centuries adopted unbleached canvas (linen, cotton or hemp) trousers  for fatigue and other dirty duties, including mucking out horses, because of this.