Runaway Train

The Tale of the Runaway Train

One morning at about 6.45 am, as local Seasider, Gerald Grant was riding his bicycle on his way to work, he came across an unusual sight near the Glanmor Foundry signal box at Glanmor Road in the vicinity of the Railway Station.

A locomotive belonging to the Nevills’ Dock & Railway Company had come off the rails and its front bogie wheels were embedded in the tarmac. It was not under full steam and only faint traces of vapour could be seen.

It had been derailed by a set of catch points, installed by the railway authority to prevent any locomotives, other than the Great Western Railway’s using their railway lines. Catch points, were a short length of rail placed inside the existing rails, which prevented the wider wheels of the Nevill’s Dock engines continuing on their way. If the catch points were not set to allow the engines to transfer on to the other set of rails the locomotive would be derailed.

As Gerald continued on his way to work, which was in the same yard as the engine shed, he mulled over in his mind why the runaway engine had come to a ignominious end. Nearing the entrance to the yard, he met some workmen who were running in all directions. When he asked what was the matter they told him that one of their engines was missing and they had been sent to look for it.

Nevill’s Dock and Railway served all the industries in Llanelli by collecting and despatching their products to customers nationwide. The small trains served businesses all over town, Old Castle Tinplate Works to the west, the timber yards to the east, and the gas works and foundry to the north east near Murray Street. The Nevill’s railway went along back lanes and in many cases crossed main roads – the busy little locomotives huffing and puffing, whistles shrieking, throughout the day.

When the engines returned to the yard at the end of the day, the drivers would rake out the fires from the firebox, tossing the embers to the ground. After they had set the brake and throttle to ‘safe’ they would go home after a busy day. On summer nights, the yard was a magnet for the boys of the district, who would clamber all over the engines, pulling levers and the whistle cord. There was no steam in the boiler so the lads were not in any danger. When they tired of playing ‘engine driver’ they departed, not necessarily leaving the levers and throttles in the ‘off position.

A man was employed to light the fires in the fireboxes to raise steam in the boilers so that the engines would be ready for duty when the drivers arrived at 7 o’clock.

The day before the fire lighter would have prepared stacks of wood and oil-soaked rags and would start work at 4.30 am. He would light the fires, and then retire to his hut for tea, returning to the engines at intervals to put more coal on the fires, making sure that steam was being raised in the boilers. On the fateful day, because of the antics of the youngsters the night before (moving levers and throttles), one engine – whose steam was building up and with switch points in its favour – set off driverless. Because it did not have a full head of steam it would have taken some time to get to its final resting place. What actually happened at the engine yard is open to speculation: Did the fire lighter take a nap? Did he go home for food? (he lived close by), the answer will forever remain a mystery.

When Gerald arrived at the yard he was asked if he had seen a driverless engine. He replied that he had and told the frantic locomen where to find it.

Talking to a local who had witnessed the runaway, he said he had seen it moving slowly but did not see a driver in the cab. He had assumed that the driver was bending down out of view so did not think it was important. It was early in the morning and he was not taking too much notice, so he may have thought he was ‘seeing things’, it could have been a pink elephant and probably he still would not have noticed! He explained nobody would expect to see an engine without a driver. Being so early in the morning there was not much traffic about so there was little danger to other vehicles which would have stopped to let the engine pass anyway.

Everyone in Seaside had a ‘good laugh’ and though the red face of the person responsible only lasted a fortnight, there was a lot of ‘leg pulling’ for a long time after. Young lads throughout Seaside would get their ears cuffed for shouting out to the engine drivers as they passed “Have yer lorst an engin?”