Source D is an extract from ‘German Occupation Railways in Jersey’ by N.R.P.Bonsor. It tells us that there was a blast wall built at the eastern end of the old JR & T tunnel at St Aubin as protection for the extensive galleries that were being excavated. It tells us that due to the blast wall being there, it was impossible for a line to go through the tunnel, so the railway then led up to the opening of the tunnel in 1898. This gives us a reason as to why the railway no longer exists, because of the blast wall being in the way. If the German railways, and the existing J.R. & T. Railways have different sized tracks, then that would be another reason why the railway no longer exists. In addition, after a visit to the site, we can see that the lines are still laid inside the tunnel, this is because they were embedded in concrete and therefore never removed. This could be a reason why the railway could be reopened, because since the line still exists within the tunnel, after the blast wall was removed, there would be line already laid to continue with.
Immediately after the station fire in October 1936, the chief fire officer, J.Remphrey said, “Theories as to the cause? I have none. It is very difficult to arrive at the cause of the fire, especially when the stating point is so completely destroyed as in this case.” J Remphrey was the chief fire officer when the fire broke out at St Aubin, destroying the station. We aren’t told much about him, but because he is a fire officer, he is probably quite a reliable source of information. However he could have been lying for the owner of the station, to avoid the owner going to prison.
Source 1 (Extract from the J.E.P. for Monday 19th October 1936.)
“A scene of desolation greeted me when I visited the spot yesterday morning,” writes an E.P. reporter. “The firemen, weary and smoke stained, were still on duty, and a curious crowd of sightseers stood around. Smoke and blackened shop fronts with the windows smashed and heaps of rubble where the rooms used to be, stared back at them. Inside the station, charred timbers, heaps of broken glass and ashes, the gaunt metal skeletons of railway carriages and twisted iron girders bore mute testimony to the fierceness of the blaze… We walked along the new wing and open doors revealed how tongues of flame had licked in and charred the contents; a few feet away the corridor came to an abrupt end, the floor boards sagged dejectedly into nothingness, the gable had collapsed into the railway siding below. Seven rooms had also completely disappeared and a couple more were gutted of their contents…”
Source 1 describes the scene of the morning after the fire at the station. The source can be trusted, as it was in the JEP, which would be trying to bring news to people. However, the story would almost certainly have been exaggerated to make it more of an interesting read, for this reason this source is more likely to be untrustworthy than not.
Source 2 (Interview with Mr C.Chapman, taken from the J.E.P. for Monday 19th October 1936. Mr Chapman raised the alarm about the fire.)
“I would like you to emphasis the fact that the public telephone was not available, as it was locked up in the station; had I been able to get to the phone I could have got the brigade at least 15-20 minutes earlier.
When the brigade arrived I did my best to help and was there until 5 O’clock in the morning.”
Source 2 shows us an extract from an interview with the person who raised the alarm, the interview was published in the JEP. This source is possibly reliable, as Mr Chapman could have been shocked from the experience, and therefore not in a suitable state for glorifying his story. However, this person was obviously right there at the scene, at the time of the fire, and took up to 20 minutes to raise the alarm. The reasoning for the delay was a lack of public telephone available, however this could have been purely a cover story, as he may have wanted the fire to burn for a bit before alerting anyone, to reduce the chances of the fire being extinguished before enough destruction was caused.
Source 3 (Extract from the J.E.P. for Monday 19th October 1936)
There was a rumour that the fire was caused by the electric supply. This can be defiantly ruled out, for I happen to know that the refrigerator was cut off from Mr Walters shop twelve months ago, and in any case the fire was on the opposite side of the shop from the electric wires.
… Officials of the Jersey Electricity Company… confirmed that the current had been cut off for twelve months.
Source 3 is an extract from the JEP ruling out that the fire was caused by the electric supply. This can probably be trusted as it was claimed to have been confirmed by the JEC, this wouldn’t have been made up, as it would have been checked with the company. It still could have been made up however, as the person that confirmed the power cut off, could have been covering for someone within the JR & T.
Source 4 (Extract from the J.E.P. for Monday 19th October 1936)
Mr E.G.Walters, in whose shop the fire started, told the E.P. man everything was safe when he locked up at 10:30 on Saturday night. “I am at a complete loss to imagine how the fire originated,” he said… He left thirty-eight shillings in change in the shop and all that was found yesterday were a couple of coppers.
Source 4 is written by a man who owned a shop near the station. He locked up at 10.30 and everything was safe, and he fails to see how the fire can have started. He has also lost some money due to the fire. This evidence is probably reliable, as it is someone who seems to have been away from the scene at the time, and has actually lost something because of the fire.
Source 5 (Extract from the J.E.P. for Tuesday 20th October 1936)
Was the disastrous fire which destroyed St Aubin’s railway station, 5 lock-up shops, 15 railway coaches, a wing of the Terminus hotel, caused inadvertently by a burglar who had broken into the butchers shop tenanted by Mr Walters, between 11:30 PM on Saturday and 1:30 AM on Sunday? (The time when the fire was discovered)
Such is the somewhat startling question which St Brelade’s police are asking themselves.
Enquiries made by an E.P. reporter today show that certain facts have come into the possession of the police which lend colour to the theory that the shop was entered at some time during the period stated, and that the fire was started, probably accidentally, by the intruder.
The police are, we understand, in possession of at least one clue which may lead to very sensational developments in the near future. Investigations along these lines are now proceeding.
Source 5 tells us what the police think happened to cause the fire. It is written two days after the night of the fire. If is almost certain that, if unreliable, it is unintentionally so. It is a police statement, therefore is probably true as they know it. It is still however possibly unreliable since it is just the police’s theory.
Source 6 Extract from an interview with Mr Walter Rowe, published in The Islander magazine in October 1982. Mr Rowe had worked on the railway as a platelayer, responsible along with a number of others for the maintenance of the track.
“It was started deliberately. You could see where they poured the petrol. Even the sleepers were all burnt…we all knew about it, we had to clean it up ourselves…That night all went…It was put to light. Nobody took any notice of it,” he told us, “because they wanted the railways closed.” Mr Rowe was convinced that Jersey Railways and Tramways knew that the fire was arson.
Source 6 is what Mr Rowe says about how the fire was caused. Mr Rowe worked on the railway laying plates. He says that he saw where whoever caused it poured the petrol onto the tracks. He is also with the belief that JR & T knew the fire was arson. This source could be reliable because he wouldn’t be lying for the company, as he would have lost his job over it. However he could be making the company look worse, because he is annoyed at losing his job.
Source 7 (extract from a letter written by Mr R.W.Le Sueur to the Humanities Department of Les Quennevais school on March 7 1987 after the Humanities Department had put a notice in the Evening Post asking for information about the fire)
…Whilst I never heard any suggestion of arson there can be no doubt that the directors must have felt that the gods had been kind to them when the fire broke out on a Saturday night which destroyed, not only most of the building but virtually the entire rolling stock, long lines of ancient wooden carriages as well as more modern steel railcars…The company collected the insurance money, sold off one or two steam locomotives which had survived and the rails would also have fetched something for scrap…
Source 7 is from a letter written by Mr R.W.Le Sueur after requesting information about the fire. It tells that there was no suggestion of arson, however there are factors involve which make arson seem likely. There is nothing really to suggest that this source is unreliable, as it is written so long after the events in question.
Source 8 (extract from the St Helier Fire Brigade’s Annual Report for 1937. the Fire Brigade’s annual reports were all rewritten in the 1980s by Dennis Holmes as the original reports were destroyed in a fire at the Fire Station)
…The cause of the outbreak has not been established with any certainty except for the certainty that it started within the butcher’s shop.
Source 8 is from a fire brigade report, and it tells us how it is not certain how it started, except for that it is confidently believed to have started in the butchers shop. It would seem to be reliable, as it is a fire brigade report, however since it has been rewritten due to a fire, it is not so reliable as the full content of the report may have been forgotten.
In conclusion, I cannot reach a definitive answer as to why the JR & T no longer exist, however I could suggest that by visiting the site, I can see that the station was quite large. This suggests that the amount of damage caused by the fire must have been quite large as well. Huge destruction would also reduce the will to want to rebuild the railway. People may be afraid that something similar could happen again, if it had been a small station that got destroyed, it could have easily have been replaced, and the Jersey Railways and Tramways could still have been around today. Then again the problem of the blast wall covering the tunnel is another reason why not to reopen the railway. The fact that the rails were different sizes could have been a factor back at the time of the fire, but now that most the rails have been taken up, this would no longer be much of a problem.
