Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

112 112 M51695 – M51720 September 1959 November 1968 M51696 – M51721 September 1959 November 1968 King, Wymondham 1966 January On Saturday, which happened to be New Year’s Day, the local derby game saw Burnley at Blackburn Rovers, and BR were risking damage to its trains by running a special departing Accrington at 13:37 and returning from Blackburn at 17:30. The return fare was 1/8d. MP Harry Hynd had received a written response from Minister Tom Fraser, in which he promised to review the proposal by BR to close the direct line to Manchester, “as quickly as possible” after reviewing the report by the Transport Users Consultative Committee. This was so that if he found the proposal totally unacceptable, he could inform BR immediately of his decision. But the situation remained unclear, as the proposal was tabled between the time of the General Election and Mr Fraser’s announcement in the House on November 4 th , “That no further closures would take place until I have been able to review each one, and that no further proposals for closures will be tabled until my review of the ones already in the pipeline has been completed. This does not however mean that the withdrawal of passenger services on some lines will not take place”. The General Purposes Committee met when the Town Clerk submitted correspondence from British Railways - London Midland Region, containing details of improved services between East Lancashire and London via Preston. These improvements would come into operation from April 18 th , next. March At Manchester Assizes engine driver Edwin Lane, of Sparth Road, in Clayton, lost his case for damages against BR. As an employee of the railways for 23 years, he was crossing the lines at Bamber Bridge sidings in December, 1962, when he was struck by a train which resulted in him having both legs amputated below the knees. The Court decided that BR was not responsible for his injuries, but they granted him the sum of £750 as an ex-gratia payment. April Two youths who had jumped from a train as it slowed but had not stopped, were pursued by staff at Accrington Station, after the guard alerted them that they were trying to avoid paying the fare after boarding the train in Rishton. However, before they could be caught they had made their escape via the Paxton Street exit. It was poor state of affairs at Accrington Station over the Easter weekend, as not a single long distance excursion had been booked to run during the four days. Extra trains had been put on for Blackpool and Southport, and despite cold winds these had been well patronised. It was of course still possible to get to distant destinations by service trains by making changes en route. ( The following is a facsimile of the final timetable issued by British Railways on the ‘direct’ services between Accrington and Manchester Victoria via Ramsbottom, and Bury Bolton Street .) Train Services from ACCRINGTON to MANCHESTER from APRIL 18 th , 1966 to December 3 rd , 1966 . (This was the final timetable on the direct route via Bury) ACCRINGTON – Manchester Victoria via Bury Depart Accrington 06:15 07:20 07:5 3 08:34 10:0 0 11:52 13:0 0 14:00 Bury Bolton Street 06:36 07:41 08:11 08:58 10:2 1 12:13 13:2 1 14:21 Salford - 07:57 08:2 6 - - - - - Manchester Victoria - 08:00 08:2 9 - 10:5 3 12:53 14:0 0 14:53 Depart Accrington 15:00 16:0 0 17:15 17:5 5 19:00 20:30 21:30 Bury Bolton Street 15:21 16:2 1 17:37 18:1 6 19:21 20:51 21:51 Salford - - - - - - - Manchester Victoria 15:53 17:0 3 18:08 - 19:53 21:33 22:23 King, Wymondham & Bird, Long Marston

287