As part of our railway history month on The Archive, we’re delighted to welcome a very special guest blog post from Dr Mike Esbester, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth and co-lead of the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death Project.’ In this special blog, Mike takes a look at the dark side of railway work, and how the British Newspaper Archive has helped to inform research into railway accidents from days past. The Dark Side of Railway …
accidents
The Armagh railway disaster took place on 12 June 1889 with the loss of 80 lives. The accident happened after the engine stalled on a steep hill, and the crew decided to split the train in two in order to negotiate the steep incline. Tragically, the second half of the train was not properly braked, and it ran back down the hill and collided with an oncoming train. At the time, this was the worst rail disaster that had occurred …