Fforchaman Colliery runaway drams

Two boys of fifteen were walking out of Fforchaman behind a train of loaded wagons on the night of Tuesday 20 October 1885 when one of the coupling chains gave way. The train ran wild and struck them, killing both on the spot.

Cause

A coupling chain on a train of loaded wagons gave way, letting the train run back onto the boys walking behind it.

What happened

The Liverpool Mercury of 22 October 1885 reported the accident of the Tuesday night: two boys aged fifteen were on their way out of the pit, walking in the rear of a train of loaded wagons, when one of the coupling chains gave way, causing the train to run wild and dash into them. They were killed on the spot. The paper added that the mother of one of them had lost her husband in a similar manner a few years before.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Both accounts name Gwilym Williams, 15. Welsh Coal Mines gives the second boy as John Jones, 15, and so does the Northern Mine Research Society's own list of fatalities at the pit, which records Gwilym Williams crushed by trams and John Jones run over by trams on the same day. The Liverpool Mercury report the society quotes calls him John Thomas. (disputed) ^1,2
• The Liverpool Mercury reported that the mother of the boy Williams had lost her husband in a similar manner a few years earlier. ²

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Fforchaman Colliery, Cwmaman — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Fforchaman Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society, via the Internet Archive

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026