A vintage railway engineer who restored carriages for the iconic Orient Express has successfully sued his former employer over claims he contracted incurable cancer after being exposed to deadly asbestos.
Malcolm Gelsthorpe, 68, restored vintage carriages for the luxury sleeper train made famous by Agatha Christie at the Steamtown Railway Museum, in Carnforth, Lancashire, in the early 1980s.
He was later diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer affecting the lining of the lungs, and launched a High Court claim for £495,000 compensation against his final employer St Hoggs Property Investments Ltd.
The former railway worker, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, blamed being exposed to asbestos while 'restoring period railway carriages' for the deluxe long-distance train for his terminal illness.
High Court judge Master Roger Eastman ruled in his favour and he is now in line for up to £495,000 in damages.
Electrician Mr Gelsthorpe was employed at the specialist vintage railway restoration works between 1979 and 2023, first as an electrical engineer, then in quality assurance and health and safety.
At a short pre-trial hearing last month, his lawyers said his asbestos exposure occurred while working on plywood fittings as he restored 'period 1920s-style railway carriages' which 'became part of the Orient Express.'
In papers submitted to the court, his barrister Peter Cowan said the exposure happened during his early years there, while working for Steamtown Railway Museum Ltd.
'The inside shell of most of these carriages had been sprayed with asbestos,' he said.
'Heaters were mounted on asbestos boards. There was asbestos dust and debris in electrical cupboards. These asbestos-based materials were in poor condition.
'When heaters were worked on and/or removed for repair, significant quantities of respirable asbestos fibres and dust were released from the asbestos boards and rose up into the claimant's breathing zone.
'The claimant did not use respiratory protective equipment when performing these tasks. He was not instructed or advised to do so.
'The claimant's work overalls became contaminated with asbestos dust, as did the overalls of other workers.'
The lawyer said Mr Gelsthorpe had developed malignant mesothelioma and also 'asbestos-induced diffuse pleural thickening,' a condition which occurs when the lining of the lungs becomes scarred.
'The claimant continues to experience distressing symptoms. His mood is low,' Mr Cowan added.
'The prognosis is for increasing breathlessness, chest pain, debility and dependence on others until his death as a result of the disease.'
Mr Gelsthorpe had worked for Steamtown Railway Museum Ltd at the time of the Orient Express work, with his job later transferred to St Hoggs Property Investments Ltd, which inherited Steamtown's liability for his employment.
St Hoggs argued that his former bosses could not be blamed for his illness, having brought in specialist asbestos removal teams and provided PPE.
But in a short 'show cause' hearing last month, Master Eastman ruled against the company, with damages to be assessed.
The case will now return to court for an assessment of the amount due in compensation at a later date, if not agreed.
Outside court, Mr Gelsthorpe's solicitor Sarah Kennerley-Fawcett said: 'Steamtown Railway Museum Limited won a contract to rebuild one of the Orient Express trains which was based at that depot.
'Mr Gelsthorpe and others had to restore and rebuild Pullman carriages which unfortunately contained asbestos.'
The Orient Express service featured in Agatha Christie's famed Hercule Poirot novel 'Murder on the Orient Express,' first published in 1934.
In the story, a murder is discovered when the train is stopped by heavy snowfall and Poirot's trip home to London from the Middle East is interrupted to solve the case.