The Cramlington Train Wreckers
October 2025 Meeting Report
Our 2025/26 season opened with a presentation by playwright Ed Waugh about The Cramlington Train Wreckers who derailed a train on 10th May 1926.
Ed set the scene by describing the political and cultural influences that led to the 1926 General Strike which was the biggest rupture in society since the English Civil War. In the half century leading up to the First World War Britain’s share of World Trade fell significantly, wages dropped by 10% between 1900 and 1910 and food prices rose. By 1914 British capitalism was no longer viable and about 30% of the UK population were living in abject poverty. As the working class struggled to exist the Trade Union movement grew from about 2 million members in 1906 to 5.5 million in 1926. Political unrest escalated to the level that a General Strike was called in May 1926. Nine days into the strike Cramlington Trade Union Leader Bill Golightly incited members to “Stop everything on wheels”. A group of about 40 local miners, following his instructions, removed a rail from the local railway with the intention of stopping a coal truck coming down the line. However, the approaching train was an engine pulling some coaches from the Flying Scotsman. The driver failed to stop at the break and the train derailed at the location of the missing rail. Fortunately nobody was killed and there was only one minor injury. After weeks of solidarity about the identities of the wreckers, Lile Waugh gave up the names of nine wreckers. They were sentenced to up to eight years in Maidstone prison. Due to the distance from home their families needed assistance to make the annual prison visit. Following pressure from the public and the unions their sentences were shortened and they returned home to hero welcomes.
We ended the evening with a documentary film made in 1969 interviewing surviving members of the wrecking team. They discussed the motivation for the derailment, the misunderstanding about which train was approaching and the time they served in prison. The local community was fractured for decades as the wreckers and their families lived and worked alongside other activists who had given evidence against them.
Ed’s play “The Cramlington Train Wreckers” will be presented by Wisecrack Productions at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle on Sunday 12 July 2026.
Report by Lynda Crackett