Gethin Colliery railway accident, 1879

An engine on Crawshay's Gethin colliery railway ran into unlit coal trucks in the dark on 17 January 1879, crushing three lads riding on its front.

Cause

An engine with boys riding on its front ran in the dark into loaded trucks left on the line without a tail light.

What happened

The Gethin Railway carried coal and colliers between Robert Crawshay's Castle and Gethin pits and the Cyfarthfa works at Merthyr, and the workmen rode in carriages behind its engines. Between six and seven on the dark, cold morning of Friday 17 January 1879 four lads who had gone to work at the Gethin Pit, and were sent home because there was no work that day, rode back instead on the front of the engine, although they had been told often not to.

Just past the crossing near the Vale of Neath line, a coal train ahead had been split for shunting and some loaded trucks left standing on the main line with no light on the last of them. The engine driver, William Davies, saw them only ten or twelve yards off and could not stop. Tracy Rees, 17, David Watts, 13, and James Thomas were crushed between the engine and the trucks; a fourth boy, David Adams, survived. None of the men in the carriages was hurt.

At the inquest the coroner put the accident down to a want of system in working the line, condemned the practice of boys riding on the engines and called for a light at the end of every train, which the company undertook to fit. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death with those recommendations.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest found a want of system and lax working on the line; accidental death, with recommendations that boys be kept off engines and a light carried at the end of each train.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• James Thomas is given as 13 by the Merlin and 17 by Welsh Coal Mines. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• Three young colliery workers riding on the front of an engine on the Gethin Railway were killed on 17 January 1879 when it ran into loaded coal trucks. ^1,2,3
• The dead were Tracy Rees, 17, David Watts, 13, and James Thomas; a fourth lad, David Adams, survived. ^2,3
• Trucks of coal had been left on the line without a light at the end, and it was too dark for the driver to see them in time. ³
• The coroner blamed a want of system on the line and condemned boys riding on the engines; the jury returned accidental death with his recommendations, including a light at the end of every train. ³
• James Thomas is given as 13 by the Merlin and 17 by Welsh Coal Mines. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “An engine on Crawshay's Gethin colliery railway ran into unlit coal trucks in the dark on 17 January 1879, crushing three lads riding on…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “An engine on Crawshay's Gethin colliery railway ran into unlit coal trucks in the dark on 17 January 1879,…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh coal mine fatalities, 1879 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Merthyr: three lads crushed to death (Monmouthshire Merlin, 24 January 1879) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) The sad accident on the Gethin Railway at Merthyr (South Wales Daily News, 25 January 1879) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026