The LNER Encyclopedia

I am researching my Gt. Grandfather David Gardiner, 118 Restalrig Road, Leith who was a Railway Engine Driver based at Piershill Depot, Edinburgh he died in on 14th October 1923 aged 64 in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary having been incapacitated for 2 months. Family story says he was crossing a line between 2 carriages at Piershill and was hit by one in a shunting accident. I cannot find anything relating to this other than the death registry record. Is anyone aware of anywhere the accident/employment records may still be currently held?

I do not know the name of the company he worked for, presumably all his days prior to the 1923 amalgamations as he was a stoker in 1881 and a driver by 1891, so even this information or where to look would be appreciated. I have tried Ancestry.co.uk but their railway records are largely English based, the only other information I have that he drove a train called ‘The Highland Chieftan’ or ‘Highland Chief’ if that is any help.

I appreciate that he may never have worked for LNER but if anyone has any information regarding which company owned the Highland Chieftain or Chief (or even a photo) I would be obliged.
Thanks
JG

Ay up!

As for the Highland Chieftain, this is an express from Inverness to London and still runs today. It was run by the LNER and indeed, still runs today courtesy of East Coast Railways. You should also be aware that "HIghland Chieftain" was the name of one of the LNER's steam railmotors: http://www.lner.info/locos/Railcar/sentinel.shtml for more details. Or indeed a Thompson Pacific No 507. For a photo: http://uk.ebid.net/for-sale/photograph- ... 452235.htm

As for his employment records, the National Archive in Kew have most of what's available although it is always worth trying the National Railway Museum. There may well be a National Archive in Scotland which is also worth trying.

If he was killed in an accident there will have been an enquiry and possibly an inquest. Local papers are worth searching for details. The Rail Accident Investigation Board hold all the surviving enquiry records so they're worth a try.

Thanks for the very prompt response, if he had been in an accident he wasn't killed outright and it was at least 2 months later that he died going by death register entry. I have tried searching the microfilms at Edinburgh Central Library but could not find anything which makes me think it may not initially been to bad but something that later caused him to be ill and prove fatal. My mother can only recall being told he died from injuries but as she is 86 now her memory is hazy!
I am trying to get as much info as I can re employers etc before I go to National Archives at Kew (via a researcher) or a personal visit to The National Archives for Scotland in Edinburgh (which looks a nightmare!) The fact the Highland Chieftan was an LNER loco is invaluable, forgot to say my mother said he did the Inverness to Berwick(?) run.
Took me 6 months to track down war records for my other Gt Grandfather killed on the Somme in 1916 so anticipating another long haul here!

Thanks
JG

The Railway Archive website lists 3 accidents at Piershill 1903, 1929 and 1951. www.railwaysarchive.co.uk It might be worth checking the 1929 accident.

Was there a North British Atlantic called Highland Chief .

The two east coast companies he could have been employed by would be the North British Railway or possibly the North Eastern Railway who had staff in Edinburgh to work the East Coast trains, but as far as I know all the NER crews were based at Haymarket. I suggest that Piershill Depot is St. Margarets which was an NBR shed so possibly the best place to start might be the Scottish Records Office.

St Margaret's was located in the Piershill district, at the corner of Restalrig Road South and London Road where Meadowbank House is now.
[url]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=edinbur ... m&t=h&z=17[/url]

Jeremy

Trafford Park wrote:Was there a North British Atlantic called Highland Chief .

Yes 9902 Highland Chief.

Thanks very much to all who have responded so far, I have checked accidents all over Scotland on the Railway Archive site right back to 1919 so far and there is nothing at all involving him, if there was a collision I feel it must have been in the form of industrial accident and very possibly as a result of him taking a shortcut (my mum now says she thinks he was hit by a bogie, but she is 86 and this happened before she was born.
I have looked at the death registry entry again and causes are Pericarditis (1 day) Myocarditis (2 months) and the 3rd cause isnt to clear but I think says Nephritis (2 months) so whether this kidney problem is a result of a collision, which then brings on heart problems I'm not sure. So the very latest anything could have happened was mid August 1923, but could have been may months before this I suppose. Perhaps employment records may help but I think a trip to Scottish Archives in Edinburgh looks likely but I'm not to keen on that, it looks to be a bit complicated. Will continue to collate in the meantime any other suggestions welcome!

JJC you are correct I have looked again at the death notice inserted in Edinburgh Evening News on 15/10/23 by my grandfather. My GT Grandfather's occupation is given as Engine Driver, St Margaret's, I had thought this was a church! He was buried at nearby Piershill Cemetery. Thanks for this vital piece of the jigsaw. I actually visited the cemetery last year and checked every existing headstone, but to no avail unfortunately.

Hit by a bogie? That sioounds like something on its own, not a bogie under a loco or a coach. So one possibility would be a small engineers trolley, but when I started in Stirling (part LNER) 16 ton mineral wagons were refered to as bogies by the local staff, so I wonder if he was hit by a coal wagon which was being shunted?

Ay up!

Until very recently, train loads were described as so many bogies (presumably to differentiate them from 4 and 6 wheelers), so I suspect that it means a passenger carriage. Wagonry at the time was referred to as such I believe.

Plot takes a wee twist again as when I told my mum there was actually a train called Highland Chief she is insisting that was its name and not Chieftain. She now recalls the train went from Edinburgh to the border towns of Hawick, Selkirk and crossed the Railway viaduct near Eskbank just before Newtongrange (my home town, well village) She now can't recall being told of him going to the Highlands at all. What is not in doubt is he was based at St. Margarets.

The NBR Atlantic loco Highland Chief would have been used on the Waverley route Edinburgh Carlisle via the Borders as they were a popular choice for this working.

52D wrote:The NBR Atlantic loco Highland Chief would have been used on the Waverley route Edinburgh Carlisle via the Borders as they were a popular choice for this working.

Thanks this is looking much more promising now

Thanks to all who have posted. I have a lot more info now and will visit the Scottish National Archives in Edinburgh next year to check NBR employment records which will hopefully through more light on this. Will give an update on how I get on.
Thanks again.