Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

On Saturday morning there would be a 7:18 and a 10:50 direct to Fleetwood, a Morecambe train at 11:06, whilst the train going along the North Wales coast would be away at 8am, calling at resorts from Prestatyn onwards. Another train would depart Accrington at 9:35 for Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough. A ‘special’ train to Blackpool on Sunday, would leave at 7:45 am with a return at 7:40pm, whilst on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this extra train would leave at 8:45am and come back at 7:45pm. Stationmaster Unsworth reported there had been a steady stream of passengers booking advanced tickets all through the week leading up to the start of the holidays, and even though Blackpool was again the overwhelming favourite numbers were down. The Isle of Man had become very popular again as it had been a great favourite before the war, along with destinations in the West Country and the east and south coasts. With the coal shortage easing, Accrington people enjoyed a special excursion to London. August A man was caught walking off the end of the platform at Huncoat Station instead of going through the ticket barrier in the proscribed way after the 7:02am train from Colne had arrived. James Thomas Thompson from Hapton, a surface worker at Huncoat Pit, told the Bench, “They are very lapse at Huncoat and I thought I could get away with it”! When stopped he had produced a ticket that was out of date, which he claimed he had bought that morning, but he could not pay the 2½ pence fare from Hapton Station. He was fined 20 shillings with 10 shillings costs. ( Equal to 244 times the fare! ) September Some of the heaviest rainfall on record dampened the numbers of holidaymakers and day trippers at the start of the September weekend. A relief train was put on for Blackpool in the afternoon of the Saturday, and it was estimated that around 1,000 people went to the resort, with a similar number shared out between the other coastal destinations, Morecambe attracting about 500 and Southport 400. Almost 100 departed on the morning train to London. Excursion tickets were unavailable for trains on Monday, with comparatively less travelling. It was estimated that 250 went to Blackpool, with about 100 each to Southport, Liverpool and Manchester. Officials at Church & Oswaldtwistle Station stated that at no time had passengers exceeded moderate levels. November The London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company announced, “After experimenting with several colour schemes to ascertain their durability, we are to livery our 8,000 locomotives in unlined black. However, locomotives of the classes, Princess Coronation, Princess Royal, Patriot, Royal Scot and Jubilee would be black lined out in maroon and straw. Our 16,300 passenger carriages will be turned out in maroon to replace the Midland Red scheme. Station names will be of an enamelled metal construction with large straw coloured letters on a maroon field. The type-face that we will adopt will be Gill Sans Serif. However, due to the limitations in supplies of paint, this transformation will take some considerable time”. December The General Purposes Committee met and it was resolved that Councillor Sproul would be appointed to represent Accrington Council at the Conference of Local Authorities, which is convened periodically at the behest of the Town Clerk of Colne in order to discuss the railway services provided by the LMS in East Lancashire. The retirement was announced of Mr W. R. Ellis who was the District Foreman of the LMS’s carriage and wagon works in Accrington. Starting for the LNWR in Garston in 1907 he had been in the post at Accrington since 1937, and received a writing set and a reading lamp at a presentation held in his honour. 1947 February Workers at the goods yards in Accrington and district did extra shifts on Saturday and Sunday, the 16 th & 17 th , in response to an appeal to load up to 900 tons of coal mined over the previous week by colliers in the local pits. This was in order to help alleviate the chronic shortage of fuel being experienced across the nation. On Wednesday, the 26 th , very heavy snowfall caused the Rose Grove to Aintree goods train to be stuck in a drift just to the east of Huncoat Station, derailing 8 empty wagons in the process. German prisoners of war were brought in from a camp in Manchester to help dig out the lines blocked on the approaches to Accrington, sixty deployed on this task whilst 20 more were assisting in the goods yards. Stationmaster Unsworth reported that services had been completely disrupted, with the first train for Manchester only able to get through at 11am, whilst the twenty mile journey from Preston to Accrington

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