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Write for Railway Work, Life & Death! 

Firstly, our thanks for considering writing a blog post for us! 

We’re always delighted to have the opportunity to share posts on our blog. As a voluntary project, we’re especially grateful for the time that people give, as we know how valuable it is.

We’re fortunate that the project crosses over with so many areas of interest, from people’s own family history, current or former professionals to academic research. Writing a guest blog post for us is a fantastic opportunity to share aspects of your research, or your own experiences and findings. For early career historians it is also a fantastic opportunity to add to your CV and contribute to the project. 

It’s a key aim of our project to engage with and encourage work that touches upon the experiences of railway staff, particularly around accidents. With new data being made publicly accessible on our website, we would be delighted if interest in new resources leads to short articles of inquiry we can share on our blog. 

For previous examples of guest blogs posts that yours could feature along side click here!

Article guidelines: 

  • Length: Word lengths between 300 and 1000 words are typical. Longer posts are still welcomed but may be split into parts when posted. 
  • Subject: Anything that touches upon railway safety, accidents, disability, treatment and medical provision, or rehabilitation, ideally to railway employees. The focus of the post is up to you – for example, it may outline what happened in a particular case, or be a wide-ranging piece looking at the impact of accidents on the family.
  • Images: visual media helps to creates eye catching blog posts. If you can, please include photos, illustrations or diagrams (provided not upsetting), but it is not a requirement. If you’re able to supply photos (as scans in JPG format), please could you confirm with us that they are copyright free and that you’re happy for us to use them (with due acknowledgement, as you specify). There is also a collection of visual data diagrams on our website that you are free to use. 
  • Maps: Maps are also great visual references to include when talking about events across a geographic area and where specific places names are mentioned (e.g. buildings in a rail yard). The National Library of Scotland’s mapping tool is excellent for Scotland, Wales and England: see https://maps.nls.uk/
  • Tone: Our blog aims to be accessible to all. Don’t assume too much technical knowledge – many of our readers are rail enthusiasts and professionals but not all have such a background. Try briefly explaining any technical terms used (brackets are a useful tool for this) and if you’re not sure what a term is, do ask us! We want our posts to educate and interest, be factually accurate and correct.
  • References: If you want to include references (e.g. to original documents) then we can carry those – but it’s not a requirement to do this! 
  • Originality: If you submit a blog post to us please ensure it is an original piece of writing and not previously published elsewhere or written by another party. 

Include a short biography: Who are you? Get recognised for your contribution! 

If you could include a short biography, with your name and a couple of lines (around 50 words) to be included at the bottom of the article, that would be excellent. However, if you don’t wish to provide any further info (or even a name), then that’s fine, too. We’re delighted to have your contribution to the project!

We’re happy to answer any questions you might have during the process, so please just get in touch if there is anything we can help with. 

Contact us!

Simply use the form below or contact us through our email address:  railwayworkeraccidents@gmail.com

We will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible. Please feel free to approach us with ideas at any stage in their development!

Contact us:

Thank you again for your interest! 

The Railway Work, Life & Death project team