Single Record

Full Details

Surname

STATON

Forename

John Thomas

Day

07

Month

01

Year

1908

Age

37

Occupation

Waggon Repairer

Mine/Quarry Name

Orgreave

Mineral Worked

Coal

Owner

Rothervale Collieries Ltd

Location

Handsworth

County

Yorkshire WR

Details of Event

The deceased and another wagon repairer were sent by their foreman to the sidings on the Great Central Railway to repair a full wagon, belonging to the Colliery Company, which required new coupling links. In order to carry out the necessary work, the draw bar had to be taken off and sent to the colliery workshops. On arriving at the sidings they saw the shunter employed by the railway company and in charge of the sidings and informed him what they were going to do. He told them where the wagon was, but said they could not get at it because there were two empty wagons between it and a stop block at the end of the road, and 16 empty wagons at the other side of them. They waited 45 minutes in the shunter's cabin for a colliery locomotive to come up to draw the wagons back but before it came went down the sidings, a distance of about 200 yards, to where the wagon was and managed to push the two empty wagons beyond it towards the stop block, they then got under the waggon and attempted to remove the nut at the end of the draw bar, but found it was too tight to turn. They were getting from under the wagon when six loaded wagons which had come from the colliery and were being lowered by the railway company's shunter, bumped into the end of the wagons and caused them to move forward about a wagon length. The deceased was run over by one of the wheels and caused such injuries that be died shortly after reaching the Royal Infirmary at Sheffield. The accident was due to the two men not having carried out a rule, which is posted up at the wagon shops at the colliery and was well known to them. It read as follows “Before any person commences any painting repairing or any other work on waggons a red flag must be fixed in a conspicuous place where it will be visible to shunters and drivers to indicate danger on the line.” They took no precaution, whatever, to let the shunter know they were working at the waggon. If they had put a red flag on one of the wagons, none would have been put into the same road until it was removed.