The Cramlington train wreckers accidentally derailed an LNER passenger train in 1926
A new play—The Cramlington Train Wreckers—highlights the derailment of the Flying Scotsman train during the 1926 general strike.
The incident took place seven days into the strike when striking miners uncoupled a rail on the mainline Edinburgh to London railway at Cramlington, just north of Newcastle.
The intent was to derail a scab coal train but it actually took out a passenger train.
There were 281 passengers aboard the train but the strike-breaking driver was warned of trouble ahead and slowed down, meaning when the engine and five carriages were derailed, no one was killed.
The state responded viciously.
Eight Cramlington miners were each sentenced to up to eight years in jail but were eventually released early due to pressure from ordinary trade union members. They returned home, welcomed as heroes.
Playwright Ed Waugh told Socialist Worker, “People want to know about working class history and we’re showing them forgotten events. The general strike was the biggest rupture in British society since the civil war of the 1640s.
“We are using the derailment as a focus to illuminate the whole general strike story.
“Like the rest of the British coalfields, all the pits in Northumberland, and the North East as a whole, were solidly behind the strike, as were the railway workers, and other sections of the British workforce, like the engineers, dockers and transport workers. The country came to a standstill.”
Such is the interest in the strike, Ed and the Wisecrack Productions team spoke to around 3,000 people on the subject over the past 18 months. The Wisecrack team is working with a large number of local groups and schools to highlight why the strike happened, and its consequences.
Ed adds, “The story of The Cramlington Train Wreckers is one of high dramatic tension and has become an important part of North East folklore and British history, although largely forgotten today.
“With the centenary approaching, the new play is important to assess the events in an informed, dramatic and entertaining manner.
“There are lessons to learn—how the leaders of the TUC trade union federation sold us out and turned their back on the local initiatives.”
The play asks whether those who derailed the train were “terrorists or workers defending their community and jobs?” The argument is hugely relevant given the recent imprisonments of environmental and Palestine activists and the debates about direct action today.
Tour dates
- Thu 7 Nov Cramlington Learning Village 4 pm and 7 pm.
- 8 Nov Gateshead,
- 9 Nov Bishop Auckland
- 10 Nov Hexham
- 12 Nov Barnard Castle
- 13 Nov Whitley Bay
- 14 Nov Alnwick
- 15 Nov Gosforth
- 16 Nov South Shields.
The organisers hope for further dates if trade unions and others can help with funds. For details go to www.cramlingtontrainwreckers.co.uk
