Danger on the Line: Part 1

Society members may recall being present when Dr. John Tolson spoke on the St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway. Such were the tribulations faced by that company that he named his talk "A Ramshackle Undertaking". His research revealed a sad history of accidents along the line which, through lack of space, were not published in his book [The St. Helens Railway, Its Rivals and Successors: The Oakwood Press, 1983, ISBN 0 853612927]. They are therefore published for the first time in a series of articles here in Canal Cuttings. Our thanks to John for this privilege.

A brief but random survey of accidents, which were reported almost weekly in the local press during the last decade of the St. Helens Railway's independent existence, gives some idea of the mishaps which befell passengers, employees and trespassers. The usual crop of suicides and drunks met their ends on the line, the former by intent and the latter from the effects of what the editor of the St. Helens Intelligencer called "the monster evil of society".

A typical incident took place near Gerard's Bridge on a Sunday afternoon in September 1857 during the construction of the Rainford Branch and this was reported in somewhat gory detail:

"A workman by the name of John Duarty, aged 34, went to the railway in a state of intoxication, and without any orders, commenced running and tipping the dirt wagons to form the embankment there, and as he was proceeding with some empties riding on the first waggon, he fell on the rails and the waggon passed over his thighs, almost dividing one from his body; he bled considerably on the spot, and on being carried home, a surgeon was sent for, who amputated the leg, but he gradually sank and died the same evening. It appears the deceased had only that day come from Tyldesley for the purpose of seeking employment."

Carelessness was the order of the day and two other fatalities occurred during the same month. A navvy was run over by an engine and tender at Pocket nook, and James Cunningham, while working on the Rainford Branch indulged in the time-honoured practice of riding on the tender buffers. He fell off and was cut in half.

The 'breaksman' or 'brakesman' seemed particularly at risk because of his need to go between the wagons during shunting operations. On Wednesday 7th May 1856 W. Higginson was engaged in shunting loaded wagons on the Blackleyhurst Colliery Branch when his stomach was crushed between two of these, and on 13th August of the same year Richard Boardman had his foot crushed between the buffers as he tried to apply the brake of his loaded 29 wagon train near Runcorn Gap. Incidents involving broken limbs were considered trivial, like the one near Kurtz's Chemical Works in St. Helens, when a plate-layer, standing on the broken spring of a derailed wagon in order to unload it, was struck by a passing engine. The year's minor mishaps were concluded on 5th November, when a porter at Runcorn Gap had his arm crushed by the engine crankshaft, as he was throwing sand on the rails in an effort to get the train started on its climb up the bank.

An accident with more widespread but less tragic results took place in August 1856 when a coal train was shunting wagons on the branch to Sutton Copper Works. Having uncoupled these, it was intended to let them run on while the locomotive continued along the main line to meet them at the crossing. The brakes did not work, and the locomotive crashed into the wagons, upsetting one and throwing coal all over the line. Considerable delays to trains from St. Helens and Garston ensued, while trains between Liverpool and Manchester had to wait for over an hour - an incident which did not please the LNWR.

But even some of the tragic happenings were not without a certain comic element, particularly if the incident is relived in imagination. On 15th October a horse and cart were struck by a passenger train at the Minera Lime Company's depot not far from the old station at St. Helens. The local paper reported with some irony that "the horse was killed, and the cart smashed to matchwood, but the carter immediately ran off and has not been heard of since".

Loaded coal trains were particularly prone to run away, and some spectacular crashes occurred. One such incident took place between6 and 7 p.m. on Thursday 27th December 1855, between Appleton and Runcorn Gap involving the locomotives Lapwing and John Smith. The former had left Sutton about 5 p.m. with 30 wagons of coal, some destined for export, and some to be put off at various sidings along the way. The train had stopped and wagons were being shunted into McLellan's Borax works, when another train of 48 laded wagons hauled by John Smith was seen approaching at a fast rate. The crew were struggling desperately with defective brakes on the wet and greasy track but the engine ran into the stationary wagons of the previous train, smashing two and tearing up the track for a considerable distance before rebounding into its own train with equally disastrous results. Almost miraculously, no one was hurt, but John Smith was extensively damaged, and as the value of the locomotive was estimated at £800, and that of the wagons at between £20 and £30 each, repairing or replacing them was bound to be a costly business.

Dr Tolson has always been generous towards SCARS. Early in its life he allowed the Society to copy the dozens of photographs he took in the 1970s whilst researching for his book. His views included many taken of the canal before vandalism, official and malicious, took it into decline. The cottage at Hulme Lock, which SCARS Work Parties are presently excavating, was occupied still when pictured in 1971.

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