Major new resource shows Welsh railway life in the early 20th Century

As Wales marks ‘Railway 200’ – 200 years since the birth of the modern railway – a major new resource shows the harsh reality of what it was like to work on Welsh railways around one hundred years ago. 

With coverage from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Pwllheli and Wrexham to Milford Haven, Swansea and Monmouth, people can explore who worked on the railways in Wales and what they did – and what happened to them at work.

The records tell the stories of people like George Johnson, a Barry Railway pilotman (a type of engine driver), who lost his lower right leg at Coity on 20 November 1911 after his foot was caught in rails and run over. When Johnson returned to work over a year later, he was re-employed by the Barry Railway as a signalman – although the company only paid half of the cost of the artificial limb Johnson needed.

The new resource comes from the , which looks at accidents to British and Irish railway employees before 1939. It has worked with to make the records, including 31,000 relating specifically to railway workers in Wales, readily available to everyone.

The thousands of records include railway workers like Edith Harris, working on the Rhymney Railway during the First World War as a carriage cleaner. On 28 September 1915, she tripped whilst crossing railway lines and fell, bruising her chest and was unable to work for four days. Taff Vale Railway guard, William Cook, unfortunately had 14 known accidents between 1900 and 1919 – nearly one per year!

Most of the incidents recorded were relatively minor, but they highlight the dangers of railway work during those times. Some of the records are unexpected - like Great Western Railway porter Payne, who had his thumb bitten by a drunken woman at Newport on 4 February 1914.

The Welsh records have now been launched by the ǿ����Ƶ and , together with , and can be accessed online via the Railway Work, Life & Death project website.

, Senior Lecturer in History at the, as well as Railway Work, Life & Death project co-leader, said: “These records are a fantastic resource, revealing an overlooked part of Welsh history – not just what people were doing at work on Welsh railways, but the human costs of that work, for employees, their families and wider communities. 

“It’s really important to share this during ‘Railway 200’ - we can learn so much about everyday life for ordinary people, on the railways and beyond. That’s only possible thanks to the fantastic volunteers at The National Archives, who have transcribed these records over the last seven years.”

Dr Louise Moon, Technical Lead Heritage, Legacy & Sustainable Impact at TfW added: “We are delighted to be able to support this fantastic and accessible project and to be able to tell more stories about Wales’ railway heritage and the people behind these stories. Partnership and cross-sectoral working is a vital part of our heritage programme development as we work to bring industry, academia and communities together.”

Llanelli Railway Goods Shed was the setting for the launch on 23 June, and was particularly appropriate since amongst the incidents recorded in the records for Llanelli are two accidents to Great Western Railway ‘caller off’ (a type of goods worker) Francis Creed which probably took place in the goods shed. In the first he knocked his head on a trunk; in the second he had a finger burnt when loading goods.

The Railway Work, Life & Death project is a collaboration between the ǿ����Ƶ, and the, and working with The of the UK and the.

The project aims to improve our knowledge and understanding of British and Irish railway workers and their accidents, from the 19th Century to 1939. Making this historical knowledge accessible to all is an important part of the project’s work. The Welsh cases are found in the Railway Work, Life & Death project database, available free from the project website.