Clank, Buffer, and Steam: The Dangerous World of a 1901 Shunter

For the village of Moor Row, the railway was more than a service; it was the primary employer and the architect of its social fabric. 

To look at the census records of 1901 is to see a village at its industrial zenith - a "railway colony" where your rank on the tracks often determined your front door.

The Geography of the Junction

The life of every worker listed below revolved around the Moor Row Junction. The physical "heart" was the Level Crossing (The Gate), located at the western throat of the station near what is now the entrance to Pearson Close. 

Here, the Gate Keeper managed the constant interface between the village residents and the thunderous mineral trains hauling haematite towards the coast.

The Man at the Gate

​Name: Charles Farr  
​Role: Gatekeeper and Signalman 

​Responsibility: In 1901, the "Gate" was not just a simple road crossing. Because of the volume of iron ore traffic, it was a high-pressure point. Charles Farr was responsible for the interface between the villagers' daily movement and the heavy mineral trains coming from the Montreal Mines.

​Workplace: He operated from the original signal box/gate cabin located near the western end of the platforms. This was the era before the larger 1913 signal box (Moor Row No. 1) was built, so his workspace would have been a smaller, earlier design typical of the LNWR & Furness Joint Railway.

The Railway Rows: An Address Directory

I. Dalzell Street: The "Running" Terrace

No. Resident Occupation Notes
1 Joseph Walker Engine Driver Senior footplate role.
4 John G. Burney Engine Driver Senior footplate role.
12 John Troughton Engine Driver Senior footplate role.
14 Isaac Troughton Cleaner Son of John; next-gen driver.

II. John Street: The Mineral & Shunting Staff

No. Resident Occupation Notes
2 James Hannah Railway Shunter Yard operations.
5 Thomas Moore Railway Guard Operational safety.
14 William Wilkinson Railway
Labourer		 Plate layer.

III. Scalegill Road & Place: Maintenance Hub

Addr Resident Occupation Notes
4 Rd James McBain Engine Driver Senior footplate role.
7 Rd John G Burney Engine Driver Senior footplate role; family in the process of moving to Dalzell Street.
3 Pl William J Fearon Railway Fireman Fed coal to the Engine. 

Census Anomaly

  • In 1901, No. 7 Scalegill Road was the home of John G. Burney. ​ But he also appears at No. 4 Dalzell Street in the same census. This "double entry" is a quirk of history that occasionally happened if a family moved house during the census week or if a relative filled out a form at a previous address. ​
  • By 1911, Edward Murphy (a Platelayer) was living at No. 7 Scalegill Road. 
Insights: Life in the Rows
  • Railway Dynasties: At 12 and 14 Dalzell Street, the Troughton family represents the father-to-son legacy common on the Cumbrian lines.
  • The "Scalegill" Context: Residents near Scalegill Road managed the most punishing roles, bordering the mineral lines serving the local mines.
  • The Pearson Close Link: Proximity to the gate allowed the "Caller" to reach footplate staff instantly for unscheduled ore traffic.

1901 - A Day In The Life Of A Shunter

The first thing you notice when you wake is the taste of the air. It is heavy, metallic, and gritty. In Moor Row, you don't just breathe; you inhale the industry. They call this 'Red Country' for a reason.

The haematite iron ore - the 'red gold' dug from the belly of West Cumbria - stains everything. It is in the creases of your hands, the fabric of your waistcoat, and the dust on the windowsill of your home on Dalzell Street.

05:30 – The Walk In

You leave your house before the sun has fully risen. The village is already awake; the clatter of boots on cobblestones marks the shift change. 

You aren't heading to the Montreal Mines today - though half your neighbours are - but to the railway yard that serve them.

Moor Row isn't just a station; it is the linchpin of the entire West Cumbrian network. To the south lies Egremont; to the north-east, Frizington; and heading strictly north is the Cleator and Workington Junction line.

It is a "spaghetti junction" of iron, and your job as a shunter is to ensure the right wagons go to the right furnaces without getting yourself crushed in the process.

06:00 – The Yard and the 'Sharpies'

You sign on at the yard office. The shift is officially twelve hours, but with the volume of ore coming out of the ground this year, you rarely finish on time.

The yard is a chaos of steam and screeching metal. Because Moor Row is a joint operation, you deal with a mix of machines. You might see a sturdy London and North Western Railway (LNWR) engine hissing steam alongside a Furness Railway locomotive.

The Furness engines, known locally as "Sharpies" (D1 class 0-6-0s), are workhorses, constantly dragging rakes of heavy ore wagons from the nearby Montreal pits.

08:00 – The Shunt

Your work is physical and fraught with danger. A train of twenty wagons loaded with red ore has arrived from the Montreal Mines. These need to be marshalled into a longer train bound for the blast furnaces at Workington.

You stand in the 'six-foot' (the space between the tracks), holding your shunting pole - a long piece of hickory with a twisted iron hook at the end.

The driver watches you like a hawk. You signal him back. Clank. The buffers kiss. You don't dare step between them; that’s how men lose arms, or lives. Instead, you reach in with the pole, hooking the heavy three-link coupling and swinging it over the draw-hook. It requires a specific flick of the wrist that takes years to master. The dust is kicked up by the wheels, coating you in a fine red powder. It turns to a rusty paste when it mixes with the sweat on your forehead.

12:00 – 'Bait' Time

There is no canteen. You find a sheltered spot in the lee of a brake van or the shunter’s cabin to eat your 'bait' (lunch). It’s bread and cheese, perhaps a slice of cold pie, eaten with hands that can never be fully scrubbed clean of the ore.

The talk among the men is often of accidents. Shunting is the most dangerous job on the railway.

In 1901, safety regulations are practically non-existent compared to the future; the Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act has only just been passed in 1900, and its effects haven't trickled down to the yards yet. You all know someone who was "nipped" between buffers or tripped on a sleeper in the dark. 

14:00 – The Afternoon Rush

The traffic intensifies. The Cleator and Workington Junction Railway (C&WJR) line is busy. You are building trains not just with iron ore, but with limestone from the quarries and coal for the coking plants. The weight of these trains is immense.

When a driver tries to get a heavy ore train moving on a wet Cumbrian afternoon, the wheels slip and spark furiously, sending the smell of sulphur drifting through the yard. You have to be quick. A passenger train is due from Whitehaven, and the line must be clear. While passenger traffic is secondary to the minerals that pay the bills, the Station Master at Moor Row tolerates no delays.

18:00 – Dusk and Danger

As the light fades, the job gets harder. The yard is lit by oil lamps and the glow of the locomotive fireboxes. Shadows stretch long across the tracks. This is the most dangerous time. A misjudged step on a greased sleeper, or a signal misunderstood in the gloom, can be fatal. You rely on the whistle of the engine and the instinct developed over years of working the road.

19:00 – Home

The relief shift eventually takes over. You walk back to Dalzell Street, your body aching. You are red from head to toe - your skin dyed by the haematite. You scrub down in a tin bath in front of the fire, but the red tint never quite leaves your fingernails. You eat, sleep, and prepare to do it all again at 06:00. You are a railwayman in the engine room of the Empire, moving the earth that builds the world.

The Legacy of the Rails

Though the station officially closed to passengers in 1935, the spirit of these men lived on through the "Workmen’s Specials" to Sellafield which continued for decades.

Today, as we walk the Coast to Coast path (NCN 7), we are walking through the ghosts of these addresses, tracing the very paths Joseph Walker and John G Burney took to reach their engines and their yards.

Moor Row Steam Train Illustration
Steam Train Illustration
Location: Moor Row CA24, UK

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