John R. Raynes

“ Instead of that, the express was turned on to the Nottingham branch line, which has a sharp curve and return curve, over which no train can pass safely at a speed greater than fifteen to twenty miles an hour. It was this which made disaster inevitable at Grantham. The fireman on the wrecked train was "a gentleman apprentice," which generally means that the driver is responsible for everything. ”

“ Robins had never driven through Salisbury station before, and was never warned before starting of the danger of the curve and the speed limit of thirty miles an hour over it. Salisbury was not a case of derailment by the wheel-flange mounting the rails, but of complete over-turning by a heavy engine losing its true centre of gravity on the curve. It raised the whole question of height and weight of boilers, and their limit by the gauge of 4 feet 81⁄2 inches. Robins drove at a speed exceeding 60 miles an hour, over a curve which has a super-elevation of 31⁄2 inches at the centre. ”

“ In the case of Board of Trade Inquiries, and the preliminary examination of the scene of accident, companies were far too ready to regard the organisers as undesirable intruders, and often flatly refused to allow them any facilities, or even to attend the inquiry. ”

“ The bigger engines and greater loads, and the compulsory retirement, were together causing stagnation, and evidently men were feeling it. The year 1904—the year of the Longhor disaster on the Great Western, in which Brothers Lloyd and Harris were killed—was a record year for new members, the total membership being 12,000, with funds £123,000, over £10 per head. Good causes were evidently at work, backed by an organiser, for the year £905 saw a further increase of 2,800 members, accompanied by a deletion of some defaulting members, and funds of £132,665. ”

“ The divided ones sought the advice of the Executive, who replied that they knew no politics but Labour. In that year the Labour Representation Committee became the Labour Party, and the Society had begun to regularly send its delegates. Messrs. Fox and Drummond were submitted as candidates. A feature of the period was the issue of loans to members, many of whom took the advantage of borrowing £250 or so, to buy their own dwellinghouses. The West Brompton branch found it had no further service for the model engine, as the line was electrified, and sold it to the Executive for £18. ”

“ He and Mr. Parfitt were appointed to visit the Dublin and Belfast Engine Drivers' Trade Union, to discuss amalgamation, and in October, just after the Trade Union Congress, there was a return to animosity between the two Societies. Mr. Bell had acted independently over the District Railway question, and when reproached for it under the Federation scheme, he replied that if he needed assistance, and could not conduct the case alone, he would inform his Executive to that effect.
The Salisbury disaster of July 1st, 1906, gave pause to the controversy between secretaries for a time. ”

“ Fox found himself launched into a bye-election for South Leeds, under the hot resentment of A.S.R.S. members for his alleged indiscretions. However fully justified he may have been, the result of this difference was a foregone conclusion. The election was fought and lost, and, said Mr. Fox: "It is to be regretted that the slander, falsehoods, and trickery of the supporters of the supposed railway crisis should have allowed a difference between two Societies
Mr. ”