Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

evidence was given by Robert Shand of Accrington, the driver of the pilot engine who stated, “I saw a light ahead in the ‘six foot’ and sounded my whistle then felt the engine jump. The driver of the train engine William Tattersall of Haslingden said, “I came down off the footplate and walked back some 150 yards where I found the headless body”. The Stationmaster at Helmshore, Richard Brownhill said, “I told Lord to stay at his post by the level crossing gates, and I cannot explain why he should have gone any distance away down the line”. The jury however returned a verdict of accidental death. On Friday the 6 th , a Bury engine driver, fifty-year old John Farnworth, was killed in an accident at Accrington Station at about 2:30 in the early morning. He was in charge of a Bury to Accrington goods train when he left the footplate of his locomotive whilst it was standing on Scaitcliffe Bridge, to go and speak with another driver. He was returning to his engine when a wagon detached from a train which was being shunted struck him knocking him down on to the lines. His head was jammed so severely between the line and a wheel that it brought the wagon to a standstill. His body was taken to the Crown Inn on Blackburn Road, where an inquest was to be held on the following day, Saturday the 7 th . He had worked for the L & Y for over twenty years, and left a widow and eight children. On Saturday the 7 th , a meeting of delegates from the L & Y was held in the Dolphin Hotel in Blackburn, in order to further discuss the superannuation scheme. Mr Bairstow, in the Chair stated, "This matter should be pursued with some urgency before the proposed amalgamation of the L & Y with the L&NWR". Then there was even more debate on the subject of the levels of contributions. On the same day in the Crown Hotel on Blackburn Road, the inquest was held into the death of Bury engine driver John Farnworth. Thomas Thompson, the Pointsman said he had spoken to Farnworth only a couple of yards from where he was struck and had already given a signal for the wagon to be detached from its train. James Ashworth, the shunter, said he was running behind this wagon in order to lock down the brake which was in his hand. Ralph Beeston, the driver on the engine, said the deceased had come over to speak with him, and he was returning to his locomotive in order to draw it down to the column in order to replenish it with water when the accident occurred. The Coroner stated, “It was highly likely that there had been a large degree of carelessness on the part of Farnworth”, and the jury recorded a verdict of accidental death. On the final day of the year, a collision occurred at Hapton Station when a fast goods train from Accrington ran into the rear of a luggage train which was being loaded on the down platform. The fireman jumped from the footplate before the impact, but the driver stayed at his controls fortunately escaping serious injury, as did the guard of the luggage train who evacuated the rear van just in time. The crash happened in very foggy conditions, and two locomotives were dispatched from Accrington and a gang of workers set about clearing up the debris. It was found the signals had been set correctly and the conclusion was, that the trains were travelling too closely together in the prevailing conditions. 1873 January A Bill was passed by the Examiner of Standing Orders, for a debate to be held in the House of Commons on a proposed merger of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway with the London & North Western Railway. This Bill differed little from the one debated in the previous session of Parliament. Previous to this the two companies had enjoyed an amicable working relationship. The L & Y were to appeal against the Haslingden Union’s reassessment of their rateable value. The previous levels had been set some 15 years previously and had not been increased despite the construction of extra warehouses. They had therefore assessed the rates in a valuation of the Company’s property at £11,000 in Accrington, nearly double that it replaced. On the 18 th , the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company’s Bill went before the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Commons, and all opposition to its contents were withdrawn. The Bill included, amongst many other schemes, an extension for the time allowed for the completion of the Blackburn to Padiham section of the North Lancashire Avoiding Line ( the Harwood Loop ). April At Liverpool Assizes, Mr John Boothman was suing the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway for injuries which he allegedly sustained in a collision which had occurred in Preston on July 18 th , 1872, whilst on his way to Blackpool. The plaintiff was a prominent member of the Accrington Board of Health, and the case had aroused much interest amongst the townspeople of Accrington, several of whom were in attendance in the courtroom. Although the L & Y had accepted responsibility for the accident, the question was how serious were the injuries that Boothman had sustained, if indeed he had been hurt at all.

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