#OnThisDay 1914 GWR quartermaster Droyen was injured on Waterford River, #Waterford, #Ireland. At 6pm a hatch beam dropped on his foot. Railway companies worked well beyond Britain - including via their shipping concerns. Railway work was more varied than we might think! #Railway200
#OnThisDay 1918 Cardiff Railway labourer Mary Cox was injured at Bute Docks, #Cardiff, #Wales. She stepped into some fire - cinders got into her boot & burnt her ankle & heel. #Railway200 There's more on Welsh railwaywomen's dock work here: www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/wales-rails-...
#OnThisDay 1914 GWR gangers [track workers] Walter Tucker & Charles Busby were murdered at Little Kemble, #Buckinghamshire, #England. They were killed by a colleague, ganger Gilbert. A tragic incident - certainly unique in our project database. #Railway200 📷British Newspaper Archive
#OnThisDay 1860 James Dodds was injured at #Kelso, #Roxburghshire, #Scotland, on the North Eastern Railway. A goods train being shunted hit the horse & cart he was leading for his employer, Mr Oliver; Dodds was run over & died the following day. #Railway200
Also #OnThisDay 1929 GWR mason RS Mutton was injured at Polperro, #Cornwall, #England. Working in a tunnel, he was hit by a brick. The brick had been loosened by the vibration of trains; the passing train struck the brick, causing it to hit Mutton. #Railway200
#OnThisDay 1916 GWR fitter Frank Coxon was injured at #Didcot, #England. Working at a forge, under the water tank, a drip of water landed in a ladle of hot metal he was carrying. The resulting explosion burned the right side of his face & chest. He survived. #Railway200
He's 1 of the railway staff we've researched as part of the Railway Work, Life & Death project's ongoing collaboration with #Didcot Railway Centre - & will feature in today's walking tour! It's really important to us to feed into the heritage railway sector & enhance their offer! #Railway200
We've helped with the new Museum display at #Didcot, on safety & accidents, & developed this leaflet, given out free to visitors. We're offering a walking tour of the site, too - the next time is today, at 11.30 & 2! A real model of how we can collaborate! #Railway200 bsky.app/profile/rwld...
#OnThisDay 1921 Rhymney Railway messenger Elizabeth Williams was killed at #Caerphilly, #Wales. She had a walking pass to be trackside. Having watched a train pass on 1 line, she was knocked down by 1 going into the Company's Works, unseen on the line she was closest too. #Railway200
#OnThisDay 1905 Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway brakesman John Blight was injured at Cymmer, #Glamorgan, #Wales. He lost a finger in the incident - presumably shunting, though the details aren't recorded. His regular weekly pay was 19/8 - c.£137 now. #Railway200
He claimed £1 compensation per week he was off - around £139 per week. In total he received £4.8.6 - around £615 today. He appears on the 1911 Census as a signalman, so presumably was found a new role after his accident. #Railway200
I never stop learning about my ancestral homeland of Cornwall. Can only assume more than place named Polperro, as only one familiar to me is Fishing Village, probably 5 miles from nearest GWR railway line - the terminus of Liskeard- Looe branch line in seaside town of Looe.
I'd wondered about this, tbh! I was surprised, knowing Cornwall a bit. Have marked it down as 1 to come back to - not sure if it might be a mistranscription (some of the handwriting😱) or a colloquial naming or something else!
Remains of an LNER railway container (the smaller pre-ISO type) turned up during building work in Belgium recently. Companies ran their own steamers and sold through tickets to mainland European destinations. SeaFrance was the last vestige of this, formed from SNCF's ferry operations.
Oh yes, I remember that - a real surprise! Don't think much was salvageable though, was it?
No, I had hopes they might recover at least some of the ironwork but the wooden parts were simply too far gone (or, more accurately, there wasn't the will or funding to conserve any of it - it would surely have been technically feasible).