Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

facilities for passengers, including improvements to the booking office and a possible repainting. But unfortunately he could not give a date as to when this refurbishment would begin. However, BR’s North West Regional Line Manager, Mr G. P. Lambert, gave details of the plans to curtail the services to Manchester that would come into force during September. Mr Pollard said that the closing of all the lines in the North West identified in the Beeching Report would save British Railways in the region of £2 million. These were justified he stated, “As on certain services the fall in receipts in relation to costs is so great that it cannot be met by economies alone, so it had been necessary to increase fares. But where services can become viable by improving operating methods and by adjustments to ticket prices, this was being done. We will continue our policy of introducing special off-peak fares, but where this has been done very few additional people use them, so BR earns no more money”. He confirmed that some of the savings were being made by cutting staff, especially signalmen and crossing keepers as fewer signal boxes were needed, but this was mainly being done by natural wastage. He did say that on the positive side, “By 1966 there will be 100mph trains operating on the West Coast Main Line, and that punctuality had improved, so that 90% of trains arrived within five minutes of their scheduled times”. He added that the frequent breakdowns of the Cravens diesel multiple units were now being rectified. On Thursday, the 9 th , the destination was Liverpool at 10/3d, departing Accrington at 08:45, with the option of booking through to Llandudno, New Brighton, Hoylake or the Isle of Man. On Wednesday, July 22 nd , an excursion went by rail and steamer to Dublin, including a coach tour of the city and all meals at £4 – 4s – 0d. On Mondays, July 13 th and 27 th , an excursion went by rail and steamer to the Kyles of Bute for £12 – 10s – 6d. Whitby and/or Scarborough were the choices on Sunday, the 12 th , at 21/-, with Morecambe on the list of specials on the following Thursday. On two Mondays, the 13 th and 27 th , the Kyles of Bute trains operated, along with the special to Dublin which went on Wednesday the 22 nd . One of the most severe storms erupted over East Lancashire on Saturday, July 18 th , with torrential rain causing flash floods, which lasted from the morning through to the early evening. Some of the worst damage to property, as well as loss of life, occurred at Rising Bridge, where torrents came down from the hills washing out ballast from beneath the tracks and deposited debris upon other parts of the railway line. A spokesman at Hunts Bank said he could give no guarantees, but he hoped the line would be open by the following Tuesday. The tracks were also damaged between Blackburn and Bolton, which meant that for a time passengers would have to go via Preston or Chorley to get to Manchester, or catch the ‘shuttle buses’ that were operating between Accrington and Helmshore Station. Despite the fact that these were not the official Wakes Weeks, there were plenty of extra trains on for holidaymakers, and these included Kendal/Windermere, Scarborough, Blackpool and Southport on Sunday, the 19 th , Blackpool and Morecambe on the 20 th , and again on the 21 st , with Liverpool, stations to Llandudno and Ambleside as the counter-attractions. The list went on, Wednesday, 22 nd , Blackpool, Southport and Morecambe, Thursday, 23 rd , to Blackpool, Morecambe, Liverpool and Belle Vue. It was also announced that between July the 14 th and September the 1 st , the rail steamer excursion to Llandudno via Liverpool would operate every Tuesday. Jubilee Class 4-6-0 #45684 ‘ Jutland ’ was noted returning through Great Harwood on a returning excursion from Morecambe. August Train-spotters on Accrington Station were interested spectators to an incident on Saturday, the 1 st , when a locomotive derailed as it was shunting a rake of three empty carriages from the Blackburn end back into platform 4. It took a breakdown gang three hours using heavy jacks to put the engine back onto the tracks. Mr B. A. Boyes, the Stationmaster, said no one was hurt but he could not comment on the cause of the problem, although an investigation was underway. The Stationmaster at Huncoat, Mr K. Flanagan, was not quite so pleased with the way train-spotters were behaving, and was thinking of banning them from the platforms after some were seen sitting on the parapet of the bridge over Bolton Avenue, some 40 feet over the roadway. Mr R. J. Weir, Stationmaster at Rishton, said that during the traditional holiday weeks there had been heavier bookings, with North Wales and more especially Llandudno popular, whilst large numbers had set off for the coastal resorts of Lancashire. The trend would continue with specials to Blackpool on the 2 nd and on the 9 th , and trains to both the Fylde Coast and Southport every weekday up until September 4 th , plus an excursion to Workington on the 9 th . The special fare deals to London would also stay on until

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