As the name suggests membership was based on the town's railway workers who in the early day were prominent in the community. The club took the red and green of the signal lights to be its colours and entered teams in both Wednesday and Saturday competitions. The club had immediate success, for in its second year (1913-14) it won both the Barraud Cup for Saturday play and the Wednesday Shield. Yet this was only the beginning, for the Railway club won the Barraud Cup in each year from 1914 to 1923 and again in the 1926-27 season.
Probably the club's most prominent player was Alex McVicar. Primarily as a batsman, McVicar was an exceptionally keen cricketer, for he managed to play in both Wednesday and Saturday competitions. Apparently the Wednesday team was often short and would have to start playing with seven or eight men. But when the players heard the whistle of the train coming into the square, they knew they only had to hold the fort for several more minutes before Alex McVicar (an engine driver) would be there. During his career, McVicar scored a lot of runs and also took a number of wickets at both club and provincial levels.
A.M Ongley and Lance Mullins, both of whom played for Palmerston for many years, were also important members of the Railway team
By 1927 however the club had lost most of its affiliation with the Railways and it was decided to change the name to Palmerston
