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Railway Ancestors

Heilan Lass

Heilan Lass

LostCousins Member
Railway Ancestors is a small, basic website that offers a service for researchers whose ancestors worked on the railways in the UK, Ireland and British railway workers overseas. Unfortunately no on-line searches are available but contact details are given for help with sourcing records, documents, books, special collections, etc., that exist in the Record Depositories and in discovering and investigating previously unknown sources.

NB: Keep scrolling down the home page to find the various links.
 
Heilan Lass said:
Railway Ancestors is a small, basic website that offers a service for researchers whose ancestors worked on the railways in the UK, Ireland and British railway workers overseas. Unfortunately no on-line searches are available but contact details are given for help with sourcing records, documents, books, special collections, etc., that exist in the Record Depositories and in discovering and investigating previously unknown sources.

NB: Keep scrolling down the home page to find the various links.
Click to expand...

More useful info can be found at www.nrm.org.uk website of the National Railway Museum in York and follow research and archive section - this area is called ...wait for it...The Search Engine!
 
Emma said:
More useful info can be found at www.nrm.org.uk website of the National Railway Museum in York and follow research and archive section - this area is called ...wait for it...The Search Engine!
Click to expand...

As it happens I'd recently been viewing that site as I'm about to visit the museum in late April as part of a trip to York. It really is an interesting site with a deceptively simple look.
 
Heilan Lass said:
Nice one Emma - thank you! It looks very useful and much more helpful than the site I mentioned.
Click to expand...
Reading my comment again I can't help thinking it could have been misconstrued - what I meant to say was "additional" info rather than it was better than the site you mentioned! Don't think you read it the wrong way but it was a possibility :eek:
 
No misconstruing involved - it does look a much more useful site. It is particularly helpful in the way it explains how to go about researching railway workers and where to find records. My gg grandfather was reputed to have worked on the railways in the early days (very early days - 1820/30s) and I've always wanted to find out if it was true and if so, where he worked and whether any records are available - this site looks as if it could be very helpful.
 
Emma said:
More useful info can be found at www.nrm.org.uk website of the National Railway Museum in York
Click to expand...

Have just been on this link and found a name for my One Name Study, thank you:

Commendable Act 1951
Signalman was on duty when his attention was drawn to the fact that the staircase of the signal box and portable lavatory was on fire. He tried to put it out but the blaze became fiercer so he contacted the station Master to contact the fire brigade. He did suffer burns to his face arm and hand and was later treated in hospital for these.
 
I thought railway enthusiasts might like this link.
It's about building a new railway engine "The Unknown Warrior" as a tribute to all who served in WWI
 
Thanks for that link, Britjan. I've passed it on to a railway enthusiast distant cousin. (And yes, Peter, I have asked him to join Lost Cousins but he still hasn't done so.)
 
I have recently picked up research for my husbands Suffolk Crane family of one family 3 sons worked on the G.E.R Railway as an Engine driver, Signal man and Guard, 3 Grandsons also worked on the G.E.R railway one was a labourer , another was a spring maker for the G.E.R and another was an Engine cleaner.
I wonder which part of the engine he cleaned? And how on earth did they make the springs, maybe one of the above mentioned web sites might help me find out :)
Does anyone know of the railway ancestors family history society? Is it still going ?
 
Depending on the era engine drivers often took responsibility for cleaning the outside of 'their' engine, an engine cleaner was usually involved in cleaning the ash and soot from around all the water pipes which involved going inside the main body, through the round door which was at the front. This was often a boys job as you needed to be quite small.

Springs would probably be leaf springs, you can see then on older trucks and cars. Several long thin pieces of metal, slightly curved and clamped together. The ends are mounted to the body of the vehicle and the axle is attached to the centre of the bow.

Both my grandfathers were engine drivers for different companies, my father was a signalman in Egypt in WW2 then with Great Western and I have about 20 uncles and cousins who were railway men.
 
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