Next week we’re heading north – sufficiently so that there aren’t any railways that feature in the project. We’re off to Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. Whilst they did have industrial, narrow-gauge railways, these were relatively short-lived and tiny enterprises. No doubt they generated their own accidents, though we haven’t found trace of any (yet).
In typical life, Shetland or Orkney residents wouldn’t encounter a railway on the islands – as one contributor to the Shetland Times made clear on 31 December 1910. In a series of humorous new year’s resolutions, the first given was ‘never during the coming year to travel by railway in Shetland. […] Most people will agree with me in abhorring the sin of innovation. It is the eighth “seven deadly sins.” […] We have boldly defied the powerful behemoth of modern civilisation in this respect. Let us stick to the example of our forefathers. Let us solemnly promise to enter no railway waiting room […] nor travel any distance in any Shetland railway train.’
An islands connection
Whilst the islands themselves might therefore be unpromising in terms of railways, staff and accidents, there is a connection – albeit tenuous. It comes via shipping – a more expected route. James Smith, an employee of the North of Scotland and Orkney and Shetland Steam Navigation Company, was injured at South Leith, on 16 April 1937. He was working with another man, unloading a wagon on the north side of Albert dock, within the Leith Dock Commission’s network.
Courtesy National Library of Scotland Maps.
As well as the presence of a non-railway shipping company in the Railway Work, Life & Death project database, it also highlights how organisations beyond ‘just’ the railways featured – here the Leith Dock Commission. Because the Railway Inspectorate investigated accidents that featured on its system, as in this case, it and organisations like it were drawn into the formal record of railway accidents.
On this occasion Smith and his workmate, named Niven, opened the bottom-hinged side door of the wagon they were to unload. The problem arose when they continued ‘following usual practice’ and supported the door with a prop, ‘so that it would serve as a stage to stand on’ during unloading. (This is something that was found across the railway network, as in this earlier case of a repeat offender.)
Courtesy National Library of Scotland Maps.
On this occasion, the precarious nature of the prop came back to bite Smith and Niven. Whilst they were on the door, the wagon was mistakenly moved. Even though it was only a couple of inches, it was enough to dislodge the prop, meaning both men fell to the ground. Smith injured his left thigh.
The investigation, by Inspector Charles Campbell, uncovered a variety of practices of concern. Some of these were due to the number of people working in the area, each employed by a different company and each with their own agenda the time pressures. Ultimately, though, he found the prop to have been a contributory factor, and recommended that a trestle be used in the future. Using props like this was seen as ‘highly dangerous’, so Campbell was ‘glad to report that the Steam Navigation Company’s representative at my Inquiry readily agreed to instruct his men that henceforth they must employ trestles only for this purpose’ of unloading wagons. He also recommended that the Dock Commissioners warn any other firms who used props of the dangers (1937 Quarter 2, Appendix C).
Closer to the islands
The railway worker accident currently in the project database that is closest to the islands took place at Thurso, on the Highland Railway network. On 27 January 1920, carriage and wagon examiner W Gunn was working in the goods yard at Thurso when he was run over and killed. He appears in the trade union dataset, showing that the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) represented Gunn at the inquiry into his death. He had joined the NUR as a member of the Georgemas branch.
Courtesy National Library of Scotland Maps.
Going beyond the Railway Work, Life & Death project records, it’s possible to identify a little more detail. William Gunn joined the NUR in 1919 as an examiner, aged 44. The press reports mentioned his death were brief – the Aberdeen Daily Journal for 30 January 1920 noted that Gunn was working underneath a wagon, to prepare it for shunting. However, the train was moved and he was caught and dragged. His injuries allowed him to be transported home, but he died shortly afterwards. He had served in the First World War and remained as a member of the local volunteer unit as a sergeant-major. So far it hasn’t proven possible to locate more information about Gunn’s wider life or family.