Soon after another division was formed at Galesburg, Illinois, by a group of conductors from the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

On December 15, 1868 the group met at Columbus, Ohio, where they elected the leaders to form a "grand division" and adopted a constitution and bylaws.

[1] The ORC represented the interests of train conductors, whose job function approximated that of an ocean ship captain and were consequently the most prestigious and highly compensated railway workers of their era.

[3] The objectives given in the 1887 articles of incorporation were, "To unite its members; to combine their interests as railway conductors; to elevate their standards as such and their character as men for their mutual improvement and advantage, socially and otherwise..." The order provided mutual support and assistance to conductors, and administered a death and disability insurance plan.

In response, one of the lodges of the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association resolved, "That we extend our contempt and detestation to the members of Division 106, Order of Railway Conductors, for grovelling at the feet of railroad officials..."[6] Internal and external pressures combined to cause an upheaval in the organization in 1890.

The order continued to provide strong fraternal and beneficial services, but the focus shifted to regulating working conditions and negotiating trade agreements to resolve difficulties with railroad owners.

[9] In 1900 E. E. Clark made a speech at the Chicago Conference on Conciliation where he said that the men favored arbitration for settlement of labor disputes.

[12] Garretson was appointed a member of the Commission on Industrial Relations created by the United States Congress on 23 August 1912.

[9] The commission sat through 154 days of public hearings between the fall of 1913 and the spring of 1915, uncovering many abuses and making various recommendations.

[13] In the late summer of 1916 Garretson played a leading role in negotiations in which railway workers won the right to an eight-hour day and time and a half overtime pay with the passage of the Adamson Act.

[15] He was one of the committee of six leaders of the main railway unions who founded the Conference for Progressive Political Action in Chicago in February 1922.

[12] On May 26, 1955, after mediation, a strike ballot and Presidential Emergency Board 109, the order achieved agreement on a graduated rate of pay system.