Wigan Album

I will always Sam's early death on the incident at Frog Lane Bridge where two very young kids, I think 2 or 3 years ond, were killed by a Glsgow Liverpool express.....Sam and Bian Ellison were on a 350 shunt engine with one wagon and a brake van heading North when Sam saw them on the line, he slammed on the 350 brake, jumped off, dived, and missed one of the kids by inches as he tried to push the child off the hard shoulder....Bravery of the highest standard...!!!
Back at the shed Sam cried his eyes out for about two hours and kept saying "I was only so far off him Colin".......
Later Sam began with heart problems and a heart attack.....
Also Brian Ellison, his mate, took ill with leukaemia shortly after.....Later also dying at a very young age....I also blame his early demise on the incident.........
Two kids sadly died because of neglect in looking after them and two of our colleagues sent to early graves.

a drivers biggest nightmare this,i had 2 fatal hits myself and dozens of near misses with tresspassers,always on the stretch between prestatyn and abergele,there is absolutly nothing that can be done to console you eventhough you know its not your fault.at best i suppose you eventually learn to live with it.i left the railway nearly 10 years ago to join the ambulance service and i still get flashbacks despite dealing with trauma almost daily.talking does help if only to a friend or family member.

Sammy was a true gentleman,great to work with and took a long time before his old age,but his lad John whom i class as a mate,is keeping up family tradition and is a driver at Warrington since the criminal closure of Springs Branch