United States 1883

Synopsis

One of the largest of four transportation unions in the United States, the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen (BRB) was established on 23 September 1883 by eight railway workers who met in a caboose in Oneonta, New York, in the yards of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. The organization changed its name to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) in 1890 because so many of the members it represented had been promoted from brakemen to conductor or had changed positions since their initial enrollment. Eugene V. Debs, then national officer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, encouraged the eight men to form a national organization of brakemen rather than joining a local chapter already functioning in Albany.

Timeline

• 1863: The world's first subway opens, in London.
• 1869: The first U.S. transcontinental railway is completed.
• 1873: The typewriter is introduced.
• 1876: Four-stroke cycle gas engine...