The Wrecking of the Flying Scotsman
A dramatic day in the Northumbrian coalfields
The Flying Scotsman was heading south, through the coal mining communities of Northumberland. But the pit wheels were not turning and the great express was running at reduced speed. Just south of Cramlington station the driver suddenly noticed that a section of rail was missing. He braked hard, but it was too late. Seconds later the engine lay on its side and the leading five carriages dug into the ballast as they left the rails. Two carriages ‘telescoped’ and ended up at right angles to one another. Astonishingly, only two of the 270 passengers on board were injured.
It was March 1926 and the General Strike was a week old. As the Flying Scotsman departed Edinburgh Waverley an impassioned meeting was taking place at the Cramlington Miners Institute. It ended with the cry ‘let no wheels turn’.
A group of miners arrived on the nearby lineside. Intent on disrupting strike-breaking coal trains. They removed a piece of rail and scattered when they heard the whistle of an approaching train. They expected a heavily laden coal train, imagine their shock when the Flying Scotsman appeared!
The wrecking of the Flying Scotsman has passed into local folklore, not least in the joke that it was the last time an express train stopped at Cramlington.
Northumberland is renowned for its scenery, but in the south of the county there is a significant coal mining heritage. Gavin Morrison’s photo from the book shows a Deltic locomotive heading northbound through the mining village of Pegswood
In my recently released book, On the Tracks of the Flying Scotsman, there is much more about the East Coast Main Line’s journey through Northumberland. Join me in the next post as I detrain at Widdrington and wait for the little red bus in a silent countryside, punctuated by the roar of Deltic engines as they raced north towards the Scottish capital.
Over the coming year I’ll be travelling the length of the route, giving talks on the journey and indeed my own journey, from signalman to author. If you have a bookshop, organise speakers at your local venue or run a literature festival, please get in touch.
Have rail pass, will travel!