Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

The colliery was closed to be followed by the one at Huncoat and the Scaitcliffe Pit in Accrington, and a scaling down of chemical production rendered the sidings beyond the canal redundant. Blythe’s Sidings continued to be used up until the early 1960s, when road transport replaced the railway for the delivery and transportation of materials from the complex. This area was then turned over to a site for travellers. The station buildings were removed as was the goods shed at about the same time, leaving just the two platforms with rudimentary facilities for passengers. The yard which had previously seen use for the exchange of goods eventually became a builders’ merchant’s depot. The two huge reservoirs which the railway bisected were both filled in, with first the one on the Oswaldtwistle side and later the one on the Church side being developed into housing estates. In partnership with a large local retail centre an association of Friends of Church & Oswaldtwistle Station has taken responsibility for the upkeep of the station platforms, where only the local trains now call. 1950 January The Town Clerk submitted a circular from the Association of Municipal Corporations, outlining negotiations which had gone on since 1947 to produce a general formula from the Ministry of Transport, for calculating the expense of maintaining road surfaces on bridges going over railway lines. Following consultations between the Railway Executive and the Association, they concluded that in view of the abortive result of these talks, they could no longer advise their members to comply with the requests that the Railway Executive had issued on March 17 th , 1949, ‘That when the existing agreements had expired they should be renewed and then extended on these same terms’. It was resolved that this letter would be noted, and that the terms of the Association’s decision would be implemented at the appropriate time. The Borough Engineer then submitted a letter from the Chief Superintendent of Police, in which he stated that the timings on the traffic lights at the British Railway’s bridge on Scaitcliffe Street were “insufficient” to clear the traffic. It was resolved that the firm of Forest City Electric Co. Ltd, of Manchester would, as installers of these signals, be asked to supply a ‘four period timer’ in order to comply with the recommendations of the Superintendent. February A 28 year old Huncoat father was killed on the 15 th , when he was hit by a train as he attempted to cross the tracks at an unauthorised location. July The Highways Committee met to receive a communication from the Association of Municipal Corporation Transports, stating that the British Railways Executive would shortly be communicating with members giving notice that they wished to resume negotiations on the question of maintaining the roadways over the bridges, just as soon as preliminary talks had been concluded with the Ministry of Transport. They were prepared however to continue to maintain roads on an interim basis, on the understanding that the final agreement on this issue would be backdated to January 1 st , 1950. It went on to say that, ‘with regard to the so far unsatisfactory course of their negotiations with the Railway Executive, their present proposals would not be the ones given the support of the Association. This letter was noted. August At a meeting of the Highways Committee, the Town Clerk submitted a letter from the British Railways Executive, London Midland Region, stating that in order to renew the tracks at the level crossing on Station Road in Huncoat, they would require under the Road Traffic Act of 1930 (S47) to close this road. They therefore requested that the Council take the necessary steps under this Act to close this highway to all vehicular traffic between midnight and 07:30 on Sundays, the 16 th and 23 rd , of September next. It was resolved the Borough Engineer and the Town Clerk would make the arrangements necessary to comply with this request. In September 1950 Accrington had an allocation of 31 engines as listed - Origin Built New Type Class. Number Out Withdrawn LMS Fowler Derby Feb. 1932 4 – 4 – 0 tender 2P 40676 May 1951 Aug. 1957 LMS Fowler Derby Feb. 1932 4 – 4 – 0 tender 2P 40677 October 1951 Nov. 1959 LMS Fowler Derby Mar. 1932 4 – 4 – 0 tender 2P 40680 September 1952 Nov. 1959 LMS Fowler Derby Apr. 1932 4 – 4 – 0 tender 2P 40681 March 1953 Aug. 1962

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