The Railway Work, Life and Death Project

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

As I thought the subject was a little bit morbid that I would put it here and let the moderators decide if it can be moved to a more public area......

http://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/what-were-doing/

The Railway Work, Life and Death project is trying to improve our knowledge and understanding of British and Irish railway worker accidents from the later 19th century to the start of the Second World War. We want to unlock the mass of details – some minor, some startling, all significant – contained in a variety of sources, and show how valuable they can be as a means of accessing the experience of working on the railways.

Allied to that is this https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/caution-railway-safety-1913

By 1913, worker deaths and injuries had increased to over 30,000 in a single year. Growing pressure from trades unions and the threat of new laws forced the railway companies to act. The Great Western Railway’s management introduced the Safety Movement in August 1913.

It was a radical departure, using photographs and a conversational tone to grab the reader's attention and show them what to do. This accessible style soon spread throughout the railway industry, and has been used ever since. Safety education tried to change behaviour—but at times it also implied that the worker was to blame.

Alongside safety education, the older formal methods of rules and signs continued. Some workers used personal protective equipment, and government inspectors investigated a few worker deaths and injuries and recommended changes. Despite all this, many workers were killed, or disabled for life, with a huge impact on their families.

[Oxonhutch]

My great-grandparent's brother was just one of those statistics - a shunter killed on the Furness Railway.  The recent tragic events at Tyseley, show just how dangerous this activity can still be. It is certainly central in my mind before I "go in between". It's not nice in there, and rolling trains are incredibly silent.

[grahame]

As I thought the subject was a little bit morbid that I would put it here and let the moderators decide if it can be moved to a more public area......

Thank you for passing that buck!

The project finishes in 1939 - that's 80 years ago.  My wife does a daily "on this day" looking back in history and finds that an appropriate cutoff is for stories for people born after about 1930 to be treated with extreme care, but prior to that people are very much more disconnected and positively grateful to learn even about tragedies and scandals in their families.  On that basis, I would certainly recommend moving the thread to a public area and indeed encouraging open discussion as members wish.

Before I make the move, I'll give others an opportunity to say what they think ... review in the morning and move unless I get a strong "no" response.

[SandTEngineer]

As I thought the subject was a little bit morbid that I would put it here and let the moderators decide if it can be moved to a more public area......

Thank you for passing that buck!

The project finishes in 1939 - that's 80 years ago.  My wife does a daily "on this day" looking back in history and finds that an appropriate cutoff is for stories for people born after about 1930 to be treated with extreme care, but prior to that people are very much more disconnected and positively grateful to learn even about tragedies and scandals in their families.  On that basis, I would certainly recommend moving the thread to a public area and indeed encouraging open discussion as members wish.

Before I make the move, I'll give others an opportunity to say what they think ... review in the morning and move unless I get a strong "no" response.

Thanks Grahame.  I tried to be a bit sensitive, hence my doubts about where to place it. I agree that the cut-off date means that some relatives could still be alive, and for that reason I think its best if the first part is left where it is, but the second part could be moved as its more generic?

[grahame]

After a discussion in personal messages, this topic has being moved to this public board. 

At the age anyone involved would have been (80 years ago, and at least 14 years old at the time) we are at a point where anyone finding the thread is far, far, far more likely to want to learn about family history and stories than to still be sensitive to it.   That's not just a random decision / approach - it's something Lisa and I hit on a daily basis with her "this day in Melksham" ...  only yesterday, sorting out the mystery of two people marrying each other twice - two years apart in tow different towns and we get multiple family members looking for data.   The subject of this thread is people who died or were injured on the railways and, yes, the stuff Lisa hits (and I help with) on a daily basis often involve that - including the very difficult cases of suicide (confimed or suspected) and the occasional case that could have been a murder.