Badges of many different styles and types were used by railroads. Their purpose was to both designate authority and indicate employees’ jobs title. These functions were especially necessary because of the many different occupational categories that railroads used as well as the large geographical size of their territories. Employees who performed the same jobs over perhaps hundreds of miles needed some way of indicating their authority, and badges were a major means of doing this. Among the job categories designated by badges were: engineer, porter, conductor, gateman, station agent, special agent (police), detective, ticket agent, information clerk, time clerk, and many more.
One popular sector within badges are railroad police and fire badges. These badges cross collecting lines because they have a connection to both railroads and first responders. Many railroads had their own railroad police and fire departments to provide security to freight and passengers. These badges are highly collectible and desirable among collectors.
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