Springburn Virtual Museum

Railway industry

Fitter's assistant working on a carriage bogie in Cowlairs, 1942

During the second world war, as in the first, many women were employed to replace men who had joined the armed forces. Railways, like shipbuilding and other heavy industries, were traditionally male-dominated, and women were referred to as 'dilutee' labour. Agreements with the trades unions limited women to semi-skilled status at best. They had limited training, and 'equal pay for equal work' did not exist. However, this time they were allowed to keep much of the freedom and economic independence they had gained.

Generations of people in Springburn worked in the railway industry. Betty Hartley, shown here as a dilutee war worker, was the daughter of William Hartley, a foreman in one of the works, and married Jimmy Vaughan, a joiner who spent his entire working life in the railways.

The worker is seen wearing clogs, which were not just economical footwear; their wooden soles were reinforced by metal plates which provided protection against sharp objects or heated rivets. Other women had to follow safety procedures such as tying up long hair which could be pulled into machinery.

Source: Glasgow City Archives