Female Railway Guard 1915

When the First World War broke out women were encouraged to take jobs that were previously closed to them.

Elizabeth Crighton started work as a Railway Guard in 1915 with the Caledonian Railway Company. She became the first and the youngest woman the company employed in that kind of job.

It was so unusual to have a female guard that many of the male passengers became very fond of her. They often gave her roses and other flowers as they went past.

She finally gave up her job at the end of the war, as she believed it was unfair that a single woman should be doing a man’s job while so many men were unemployed.

NewsFlash

First Scotrail is encouraging women to apply to be train drivers and earn more that £30,000 after training and probation. At the moment, they have 21 female drivers out of a total of 900. February 2007.