Remembering and honouring 'The king of all engine drivers'
A blue plaque unveiling for 'mischievous rogue' train driver Jim Hurst, celebrating his colourful life
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GWR’s first and most renowned train driver gets the blue plaque treatment
By Amanda Wilkins
On an uncharacteristically hot and sunny day in early April, under the dappled shade of a cherry blossom tree, a blue plaque was unveiled by Swindon South MP and Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander, in a small ceremony at the heart of Swindon’s very own Railway Village.
Number 18 Taunton Street, a pretty little terraced house with an iconic 45-degree front door, is now the proud owner of the accolade, much to the delight of current resident Hugh Green, who took the disruption to his front garden with good grace.
As Swindonians we are fortunate to have such an important part of history right in the centre of our town. The Railway Works and village, the very place that turned Swindon from a small, hilltop market town into the sprawling giant that it is today, serve as a constant reminder of the town’s rich heritage.
There are many commemorative effigies dotted around the town honouring the great and good from the Great Western Railway. An eight-foot statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the much-celebrated civil engineer, stands proudly in Havelock Square. A wooden hand carved statue of Sir Daniel Gooch, the first superintendent of locomotive engines on the GWR, was recently unveiled at the GWR Park.
Therefore one might expect the shiny new blue plaque to commemorate one of the important bigwigs from the railways golden age, so it comes as a bit of a surprise to discover that the latest effigy honours a poor, uneducated weaver’s son from Lancashire.
The story of James ‘Jim’ Hurst, dubbed the King of all Engine Drivers, is the rip-roaring tale of a colourful character who broke all the rules, causing chaos and trouble throughout his 38 years of service to the GWR.
Jim began his life in the railway at the age of 14 when he assisted engineer and 'Father of the Railways', George Stephenson in surveying the land that would become the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. This led to Stephenson employing him at an engine house in Salford as a fireman in 1832; two years later he was promoted to engine driver.
It was whilst driving locomotives to the Vulcan foundry of Charles Tayleur & Co in Lancashire that he became friends with a young apprentice by the name of Daniel Gooch. Gooch went on to be appointed as the first Locomotive Superintendent by the chief engineer of Great Western Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
According to Swindon Heritage Magazine, Jim Hurst was a difficult character and official GWR reports reveal many arguments, conflicts, accidents and fights throughout the career of the man who became the company’s first driver.
Jim’s first accident occurred in 1836 while he was still working for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. Jim was sacked, but was almost immediately hired by his good friend Daniel Gooch, who employed him as the GWR’s first driver. Jim relocated to Paddington where he joined Gooch, who then spent the next 30 years bailing the calamitous driver out of trouble.