Clean Up: a story

The noise of the crash in the distance sickened everyone who heard it at the railway station, because they knew it was going to happen and they could do absolutely nothing to prevent it. Several members of the railway staff also knew that they had played a part in causing the disaster which was bound to involve heavy loss of life.

The date was 10th September 1874 and the scene was Norwich railway station, which at the time was known as Norwich Thorpe. Trains left from here for Great Yarmouth on a line which was single track, although plans were well advanced towards making it double track. Indeed, the extra rails had already been laid but had not yet been inspected and approved for use. The disaster would not have occurred only a few weeks later.

Trains also arrived at Thorpe from London, and on the evening in question an express was due from Liverpool Street that would then proceed to Great Yarmouth. It was customary for the express to cross with the mail train from Great Yarmouth at Brundall, which was the next station down the line, but on this occasion the express was running a few minutes late and there was therefore the option of letting the mail proceed to Thorpe and making the express wait for it.

The communication system in use at the time was an electric telegraph, by which staff at the two stations would tell each other what the train movements were and act accordingly so that trains could cross in safety.

At 9.16 the night inspector, Cooper, who had just come on duty, went to the stationmaster’s office to get his orders. The two men were notorious for not getting on with each other, and there had been strong words between them in the past. Mr Sproule, the stationmaster, was a strict Wesleyan Methodist who never drank alcohol and who loathed what he regarded as immoral conduct on anyone’s part, and was never reluctant to tell them so.

Cooper was well known to be fond of a drink or two, although he was always perfectly sober when at work, and his flirtatious behaviour towards pretty girls was far from what Mr Sproule regarded as acceptable, as was Cooper’s habit of using colourful language when the occasion demanded it.

Mr Sproule had had a tiring day and was keen to get home. He had no intention of talking any longer to Cooper than was absolutely necessary, so when asked if he should let the on-time mail train come through he was short in his reply.

“Certainly not”, he said. “We will not have the Mail up”.

“We could delay the Express as late as 9.35”, Cooper offered, hoping to get Mr Sproule to change his mind, which was something that the stationmaster very rarely did.

“All right”, Mr Sproule snapped, as he got his hat and coat off the peg, “We’ll soon get her off”.

He glared at Cooper as he swept past him in the doorway.

“Bloody hell, you’re in a mood tonight”, Cooper muttered under his breath.

“I heard that”, said Mr Sproule, turning back. “You’d better clean up your language, Cooper. I’ll have none of that talk in my office.” And with that, he was gone.

But Cooper had got what he wanted. The stationmaster had said “All right”, so he reckoned that he was therefore authorized to have the Mail sent on from Brundall. However, that was certainly not what Mr Sproule had meant. He had also not been referring to the Mail train when he said “we’ll soon get her off”.

Cooper made his way to the telegraph office, where Robson, the young clerk, was on duty. His job was to send and receive messages to and from neighbouring stations, but he could only do this if he had a signed authorization.

Robson had not had a great deal to do, and he had been whiling away the time with four of his mates, who were on their way to the pub and had popped in to see Robson and wait for him to come off duty. They had brought fish and chips with them and were happily sharing them around and making a bit of a mess in the process.

Cooper, still smarting from his telling off by the stationmaster, saw an opportunity to pass his resentment down a level. “What a tip!” he said “You’d better clean up this office before Mr Sproule gets to see it” – although he knew that the stationmaster was no longer on the premises.

“Yes, Mr Cooper”, said Robson. “Was there something else?”

“There certainly is”, said Cooper. “Tell Brundall to send the Mail on to Norwich”. And with that he went on his way before Robson could write down the order and get Cooper to sign it.

Meanwhile, the Express from London had arrived. Parker, the day inspector, had expected the train to arrive on time and had already signed an authorization for it to proceed to Great Yarmouth. Cooper came up to him and Parker asked, “Have you arranged for the Mail to come on?”

For reasons known only to himself, Cooper said “No, certainly not. Let’s get this train away as soon as possible.” Parker then handed the authorization ticket to the driver who promptly got his train moving.

Cooper suddenly had second thoughts and went back to the telegraph office, where he said to Robson, “You haven’t ordered the Mail up, have you?”

Robson had done precisely that, as instructed by Cooper. He rushed to his telegraph instrument and sent a message to Brundall: “Stop the Mail”. The reply came back in seconds: “Mail left”.

Robson placed the original message in front of Cooper and asked him to sign it.

“I never gave you that message”, Cooper shouted. “Bloody Hell, I did not, I did not.”

“In that case”, said Robson, “Why have you come back here to cancel a message that you say you never sent?”

There was no answer to this.

They all knew what this meant.

When the trains met head-on 25 people were killed, including the crews of both locomotives. There were 73 serious injuries. This was the worst head-on collision ever to happen on the British railway system.

At the subsequent enquiry the Board of Trade inspector placed the blamed on both Cooper and Robson, the first for giving conflicting information and the second for sending an unsigned order and entertaining his friends in the telegraph office. He was also highly critical of the procedures in place for single-line working at Norwich Thorpe which could lead so easily to disaster thanks to human error.

As he said to all the people involved: “You have no choice but to clean up your act all round”.

© John Welford