ABSTRACT
Railways rank among the largest of commercial and industrial organizations, and their size prevents direct supervision of the widely separated parts of the organization and its scattered labour units. The general features of railway organization in Britain are well known. The ultimate control, though this is largely nominal, rests with the stockholders, or, as they are called in accordance with long established precedent, the proprietors, except in so far as their powers are restricted by Parliament. Under the General Manager come the various officers who are charged with the carrying out of the day-to-day work of the railway organization. The main problem of internal railway organization is to obtain a satisfactory distribution of this work. The departmental system is a centralized form of organization, and the various officers are specialists in the work of their department. The Chief Mechanical Engineer has a position of considerable responsibility and importance since British railways manufacture most of their locomotives and rolling stock.
