Railway Lodges
There have been many consecrations of Masonic Lodges for railwaymen.
Some of these lodges were for particular railway companies, others were specifically for one department, works, or depot. The history and the fortunes of these lodges vary enormously, but most of them retain railway connections to the present day. There are also new railway lodges being consecrated in the present generation, as the long association of Freemasonry with the railway world continues.
Below you will find details of just some of our family of railway lodges.
Some of these lodges were for particular railway companies, others were specifically for one department, works, or depot. The history and the fortunes of these lodges vary enormously, but most of them retain railway connections to the present day. There are also new railway lodges being consecrated in the present generation, as the long association of Freemasonry with the railway world continues.
Below you will find details of just some of our family of railway lodges.
Railway Lodges in England or English Districts (current)
Sowest LodgeLocation: London
One of two very strong and prominent London Lodges for the staff of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), Sowest Lodge No 3797 was consecrated in 1917. Its badge features a compass, with its hands pointing firmly to the south-west, the direction in which the Company's lines ran from London Waterloo. The badge also features a train, which is headed by a steam locomotive which appears to be a L&SWR H15 class, designed by Robert Urie, and built in 1914. These powerful express locomotives were the flagship engines of the L&SWR at the time of the Lodge's consecration. The similar class N15 and S15 engines were not designed until just after the Lodge's consecration, making it almost certain that the engine depicted is an H15. Six years after the consecration, the L&SWR became a constituent founder of the new Southern Railway (SR), and the Lodge became a SR staff lodge. Gooch Lodge 1295Location: Wiltshire
Sir Daniel Gooch was a Member of Parliament and a professional railwayman, who served the Great Western Railway (GWR) as Locomotive Superintendent, and later as Company Chairman. Gooch was a Freemason, and was directly recruited to the GWR by its most famous star, fellow Freemason Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in 1837. The GWR had many sheds and works, but under Brunel and Gooch a new super-works was designed and built at Swindon. The mighty Swindon Works was to be the heart of the GWR for the rest of its existence, and well into British Rail days too. For GWR staff at Swindon, Gooch Lodge provided a Masonic meeting place. Gooch Lodge No 1295 was founded in 1869 in honour of Sir Daniel Gooch, and still meets in Swindon. Onward & Invicta LodgeLocation: London
Onward & Invicta Lodge No 2912 was consecrated in 1902 and meets in London. It was founded for employees of Kent's extensive South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SE&CR). This Company was a working partnership of two very old railway companies - the South Eastern Railway (SER), and the London, Chatham, & Dover Railway (LCDR), whose London terminus was Blackfriars. The combined railway operated extensively right across Kent. The Lodge badge is taken directly from the SE&CR logo, which combines the original SER badge (on the left) with the original LCDR badge (on the right). "Onward" and "Invicta" are the mottos of the SER and the LCDR respectively. Crewe LodgeLocation: Cheshire
Crewe Lodge No 5030 meets at Crewe, where is was founded in 1928 for the staff of Crewe locomotive works on the LMS. The works at Crewe still operates as part of Bombardier Transportation, and the lodge still operates in the town. It is one of two railway lodges founded in Crewe, both still operating. South Cheshire LodgeLocation: Cheshire
The second Crewe Lodge for LMS railwaymen was founded in the summer of 1935, and consecrated in December that year. It is South Cheshire Lodge No 5571, which today meets at Nantwich, just outside Crewe. The Lodge adopted a symbol (still in use) incorporating three wheat sheaves (to represent Cheshire) and a winged locomotive wheel to represent the speed of railway transport in the 1930s. The consecrating Grand Chaplain was the Lord Bishop of Chester (the Rt Rev'd Geoffrey Fisher) who later became both Grand Chaplain of UGLE and Archbishop of Canterbury. Lord Fisher's "Address on the Consecration of a Railway Lodge" was the official Oration at the consecration, and is an extant document available for study today. |
Beach LodgeLocation: London
Beach Lodge No 2622 was consecrated in 1896 for employees of the L&SWR in general, and staff of Nine Elms Depot in particular. It was named after the L&SWR Deputy Chairman, William Wither Bramston Beach, the Conservative MP, who had been initiated in the Apollo University Lodge, Oxford, whilst at university. The L&SWR had a staff institute at Nine Elms which contained a lodge room, and the organising committee held its meetings there, and at the Company offices at Waterloo station. Wyndham Portal, Company Chairman, was also a Freemason, but allowed Beach to be the first Master of the Lodge, which also took his name. Beach always preferred travelling by train rather than road, and ironically he was killed by a hansom cab. Sadly, the second Master (R Lingley) was also tragically killed, in a shunting accident in Nine Elms Goods Yard. The Lodge badge (Founders' jewel shown here) is beautifully ornate, with Beach's coat of arms, and a perfectly engraved 0-4-4 tank engine. This seems to be based on the L&SWR T1 class (current at the time of the consecration), although there has been a little artistic licence taken by the engraver. The lodge meets in London. Terminus LodgeLocation: London
Terminus Lodge No 8108 was consecrated in 1966 to be a London Lodge for the staff of British Rail across all regions. It retains its railway character, and continues to meet in London. The Lodge badge depicts the British Rail lion and driving wheel, between a masonic square and compasses. Euston LodgeLocation: London
Euston Lodge No 4395 is a London lodge associated with Euston station since its consecration in May 1922. The Lodge was founded by employees of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) who worked at the Company's headquarters, Euston Station, London. The Lodge was founded in the LNWR's final year of operation; the following year, on 1 January 1923, the company became the largest founding component of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) at the institution of British railway Grouping into the so-called "Big Four" railway companies. The Lodge still meets in London. The badge depicts the famous Euston Station portico, sadly demolished in 1961/62. Unity LodgeLocation: Derbyshire
Unity Lodge No 4841 is a railway lodge in Derby, consecrated in 1926 for the staff of Derby Works (LMS), which became the headquarters of British Rail Engineering Ltd (BREL). The Lodge still meets in Derby, as a railway lodge for railwaymen across Derbyshire. It's jewels include a metal steam locomotive, viewed front-on, facing the smokebox. Permanent Way LodgeLocation: Worcestershire
Permanent Way Lodge No 9951 is one of the newer Craft Lodges for Freemasons associated with railways. It serves as the railway lodge for Worcestershire, and surrounding counties, and was consecrated in 2018. It has a mixed membership of professional railwaymen (from both the mainline and the heritage rail industries), together with railway enthusiasts, and model railway engineers. It meets at Evesham. |
Scientific LodgeLocation: Buckinghamshire
Scientific Lodge No 840 was founded in 1860 by engineers and staff of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), working at that railway's extensive southern division engineering headquarters in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire. The Locomotive Superintendent at Wolverton works from 1847 to 1862 was the LNWR engine designer James McConnell, whose designs include the LNWR "Bloomer" 2-2-2 locomotives and the "Wolverton Express Goods" 0-6-0 freight engines. James McConnell was also the Founding Worshipful Master of Scientific Lodge. The LNWR later became the largest component in the founding of the LMS, one of the "Big Four" British railway companies of 1923. Today the Lodge still meets in Wolverton. The lodge badge exists in two slightly different forms. Both share the same crest and motto, and the same central (shield) picture of a railway bridge over a river. However, the train on the bridge differs between the two versions. The one shown here depicts Stephenson's "Rocket" and two yellow coaches; the version used on contemporary lodge summonses shows an early Victorian era locomotive (roughly of the Jenny Lind Single type) hauling two red coaches. Gooch Lodge 1238Location: Middlesex
Sir Daniel Gooch was such a prolific Mason and Railwayman, that there were two lodges formed in his name by Great Western Railwaymen. (See Gooch Lodge 1295, on this page, for more about Sir Daniel Gooch himself.) Gooch Lodge 1295 at Swindon is still a railway lodge today. The other lodge is Gooch Lodge No 1238, meeting at Twickenham in Middlesex, and consecrated in 1868, just a few months earlier than its Swindon twin. This lodge still meets in Twickenham, although it no longer has the character of a purely railway lodge. The founders were all railway engineers and railway workers belonging to other Middlesex lodges (notable Villiers, Strawberry Hill, and Royal Union) who wanted a railway lodge for themselves. Iron Road LodgeLocation: East Lancs / Manchester
Iron Road Lodge No 4964 was consecrated in 1927 as a Masonic Lodge for the civil engineers of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The LMS was Britain's largest railway company (the largest of the so-called "Big Four"), with its headquarters at London Euston station. Iron Road Lodge met further north on the Company's network, at Manchester, and today still meets at Audenshaw, a few miles outside the City of Manchester. The Lodge badge is the heraldic symbol of the LMS - the City of London dragon wing and red cross (London), English roses (Midlands), and Scottish thistles (Scotland), with the two plants tied together beneath the dragon wing. Great Eastern LodgeLocation: Norfolk
Great Eastern Lodge No 9452 was consecrated in 1993 as a Lodge for railwaymen in the old Great Eastern Railway area of East Anglia. The GER operated from London Liverpool Street to East Anglian centres such as Chelmsford, Ispwich, and Norwich. The Lodge meets at Watton in Norfolk. Didcot LodgeLocation: Didcot, Berkshire
Didcot Lodge No 9995 was consecrated in 2021 and meets at Didcot. Further details of this new lodge will follow in due course. Sussex Railway LodgeLocation: Sussex
Sussex Railway Lodge No 10034 is the newest Craft Lodge for Freemasons to be associated with railways, consecrated in April 2023. It meets in Brighton. Further information will follow in due course. |
Former Railway Lodges in England or English Districts (see details below)
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
United Gauges Lodge No 4472 in the English Constitution (UGLE) was a railway lodge meeting in Argentina from 1922. It was constituted on 18 August 1922, consecrated on 7 September 1922, and met at Sarmiento 1230, Buenos Aires for the next thirty years. In 1952 it relocated to Cangallo 1242, Buenos Aires, and in 1959 moved again to Cochabamba 223, Buenos Aires. The lodge was for the masonic association of all railwaymen in Argentina, and formed part of the District of South America (Southern Division) of the United Grand Lodge of England. The lodge badge depicted a train crossing a distinctive girder river bridge. So far the location and locomotive depicted have not been identified. The lodge name "United Gauges" probably refers to the lodge being for staff of both the broad gauge mainline and the extensive narrow gauge network then operational in Argentina. It is also possible that it refers to the interchange of the Argentinian (and Chilean) broad gauge, with the standard gauge operations in much of the rest of South America. The lodge amalgamated with St George's Lodge No 3641 in 1964. Sadly the united lodge subsequently closed, and was erased. A little known fact is that in the late 1990s, when the steam engine "Flying Scotsman" (LNER 4472) was in masonic ownership, there was a serious plan to revive the Warrant of United Gauges Lodge No 4472, in order to authorise a travelling lodge to meet in connection with special steam services operated by the locomotive of the same number. Sadly this ambitious plan was never completed. |
Location: Worthing, Sussex
Viatores Lodge No 4252 in the English Constitution was consecrated in 1921, and still meets at the masonic centre in Worthing, West Sussex. The origins of the lodge are still being researched, but it is believed it was for engineers generally, with a particular emphasis on railway engineers. The badge depicted here is from the Founders' Jewel, and features a steam engine very prominently. The lodge badge in common use is complex, and features a broader range of engineering references - a viaduct, a steam locomotive, and a steam ship. However, the Founders' Jewel shows only a steam engine, and the upper bar on the ribbon is formed into a gantry of railway semaphore signals, complete with red and green spectacle glasses for the signal lamps. This lodge continues to meet, but after more than a century of continuous operation it has parted from its original purpose, and no longer has contemporary railway associations. |
Railway Lodges under other Constitutions (not UGLE)
Lodge CorkerhillLocation: Glasgow
Lodge Corkerhill No 1426 in the Scottish Constitution is a railway lodge meeting in Glasgow. |
Caledonian Railway LodgeLocation: Glasgow
Caledonian Railway Lodge No 354 in the Scottish Constitution was founded in 1849, and remains the only Scottish lodge to have received a travelling warrant. It was founded for staff of the Caledonian Railway, a Scottish Company (although its lines ran into northern England at Carlisle). The warrant permitted the Lodge to meet anywhere in Scotland as long as it was on the property of the Caledonian Railway; the warrant also limited membership to Caledonian Railway employees. When the first non-railwaymen were admitted (years later) they were each taken to the railway and given a few hours on a locomotive footplate in token of qualification. After only 10 years the Lodge ceased to be travelling, and settled into a permanent home in Glasgow, which remains its meeting place today. |
Other Orders - Beyond the Craft
Locomotion Lodge
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Sowest Chapter
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