Dr Mike Esbester – People make the railway

People are fundamental to the railways - none more so than the staff who keep everything moving. But how do we find out about railway workers of 100 or more years ago? What was working life like for them? And how did an innovative safety campaign spread from the railways to influence British society? University of Portsmouth historian Dr Mike Esbester explores these questions, using the Railway Work, Life & Death project to look at the accidents railway workers had before the Second World War, and find out more about the people involved. He shows how one of the key initiatives the rail industry introduced to address staff safety spread far beyond the railways into all walks of life. It's a tale about ordinary railway people's lives, posed photographs and friendly language that allows us to discover railway staff in the past!