Tylorstown Colliery runaway journey, 1908

A runaway journey of trams in No. 7 Pit, Tylorstown, in March 1908 killed two men repairing the roof of an incline, burying them under a fall brought down when the trams struck their staging.

Cause

The coupling chain parted at a bad weld when the journey was checked by timber on the road, and no barhook was attached.

What happened

William Rowe, 23, and William John Hughes, 40, were repairing the roof on an incline in No. 7 Pit, the pit also known as Ferndale No. 7. A journey of eight trams of rubbish had just been hauled up past them and they had gone back to work when a link of the chain attaching the rope to the journey opened at a bad weld, after the trams struck a piece of timber lying on the road, and the journey ran back down the dip. The trams hit the staging the men were using to secure the roof, a large fall followed, and both were buried; it took a considerable time to recover their bodies. The rider had not attached a barhook, which would have stopped the journey running back.

Rescue & recovery

Recovering the bodies from under the fall took a considerable time.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector's account blamed a link opening at a bad weld and the rider's failure to attach a barhook.

What's uncertain

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

• NMRS dates the death of William Rowe 18 March 1908; Welsh Coal Mines lists it on the 17th. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• A runaway journey in No. 7 Pit, Tylorstown, killed William Rowe and William John Hughes in March 1908. ^1,2
• A link of the chain attaching the rope to the journey opened at a bad weld after the trams struck timber on the road, and the rider had not attached a barhook. ²
• The trams struck the men's staging and brought down a large fall of roof on them. ¹
• NMRS dates the death of William Rowe 18 March 1908; Welsh Coal Mines lists it on the 17th. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Incline (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Tylorstown, in March 1908 killed two men repairing the roof of an incline, burying them under a fall brought down when the trams struck their…”
• Journey (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “A runaway journey of trams in No. 7 Pit, Tylorstown, in March 1908 killed two men…”
• Tub (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “A runaway journey of trams in No. 7 Pit, Tylorstown, in March 1908 killed two men repairing the…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1908 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: William Rowe, Ferndale No.7 (Tylorstown), 18 March 1908 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026