Sneaking in a little #SWOS2020 project thread - on UK railways, accidents & steel!

Hopefully you won& #39;t mind being Twitterbombed?

As several papers so far have shown, transport was crucial to the steel industry: not least in moving raw materials & finished goods.

@Steelworlds
Railways were good at shifting heavy, bulky items; many plants were so big they had internal railway networks.

They needed connections to the national network - & staff to work the railways, too.

All that meant accidents.

#SWOS20
This thread has a few examples of where steel & railways intersect - & encouragement to find out more from our project database, available free at: http://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk"> http://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk 

Though our project focuses on railway company staff, others appear too, albeit usually in passing.

#SWOS20
Accidents within steel works, whether railway or other, would have been reported to the Factory Inspectorate - sadly, their detailed investigation reports don& #39;t survive.

However, for cases outside steel works property, Board of Trade accident investigations survive.

#SWOS20
So, on 13/02/1914 Jan Glevin, 68, a dock labourer employed by Workington Iron & Steel, was pushing a wagon with a colleague at Senhouse Dock, Maryport.

A train bumped into the wagon, knocking Glevin down. He suffered a bruised shin & shock.

Map 1899 (c) @natlibscotmaps #SWOS20
Sometimes railway company staff were injured by steel works& #39; property/ actions - & we get little insights into the life in the steel works.

On 17/04/1914 Caledonian Railway brakesman G Stewart was coupling wagons standing next to Dalzell Steel Works, #Motherwell.

#SWOS20
Part of No. 3 loading bank wall& #39;s coping had been broken away & #39;some time previously by a steel plate which had dropped on to it.& #39;

Stewart stepped into the gap, falling between the wagons & wall, bruising his thigh.

Map 1912 (c) @natlibscotmaps

#SWOS20
The accident report finished: & #39;It is satisfactory to note that the owners of the Steel Works had the bank repaired a day or two later.& #39;

So ... they could be quick on occasion!

#SWOS20
Sometimes consequences were more severe. On 20/04/1915 Great Central Railway goods guard Albert Scott, 24, was uncoupling wagons from his train at #Frodingham.

He walked too close to an adjacent branch of the Frodingham Iron & Steel Works.

Map 1912 (c) @natlibscotmaps

#SWOS20
A Works loco was shunting on the line, which struck Scott, running over his left leg.

It was later amputated.

The report found that the Works& #39; engine driver couldn& #39;t see Scott until it was too late.

#SWOS20
Lastly, on 27/01/1914 at Bathgate Lower, #Scotland, goods guard A Scoon was working on wagons being moved into a siding in the West Lothian Steel Sheet Rolling Mills & Shovel Works.

The report gives us some nice detail about this bit of the works:

#SWOS20
the floor & #39;is laid with cast-iron plates& #39; and Scoon was wearing hob-nailed boots.

Scoon ran ahead of the wagons but slipped on the floor plates and fell. Fortunately he only bruised his left leg - it could have been a lot worse.

#SWOS20
So that& #39;s a few of the steel-related railway accidents in our database - hopefully of interest to #SWOS20 folk (and beyond).

There are other cases, plus will be more to come as we add around 70,000 more accidents to our database.
As with a number of the genuine #SWOS20 papers, our project is all for collaboration - we& #39;re a joint effort between @portsmouthuni @RailwayMuseum & @MRCWarwick, with help from @UkNatArchives.

We& #39;re run by dedicated #Volunteer teams - our thanks to all involved, of course!
We& #39;re keen to keep collaborating & building on the connections across industries & workplaces that are coming out in the #SWOS20 conference!

ENDS.*

* Thanks to @Steelworlds for not minding a renegade conference thread, & thanks to all conf participants; it& #39;s been great so far!
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