Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Accrington into Clayton. This resolution was passed and Messrs Calvert, Christie, Haywood and Leary were appointed, but it was then decided to increase this committee with the addition of Messrs W. E. Taylor, A. Appleby and Joshua Hacking. September An accident occurred at Accrington Station on Wednesday the 2 nd , when an unbraked Corpse Van, probably following a heavy shunt, began to roll over the crossings. At 8:50pm a train from Blackburn to Burnley was approaching the viaduct in order to reverse back onto the platform, when it struck this van smashing it to pieces. The debris broke down the wooden retaining fence, whilst the train engine was derailed tearing up the track for some length, before coming to a standstill just short of the wall over Blackburn Road. The driver and his foreman both were shocked after receiving a severe shaking, and even though many of the passengers were also shaken none received any physical injuries. A gang of men were quickly on the scene, and worked through the night to clear the lines and repair the tracks, but it was not until 10am the following day that normal service was resumed. October The Midland Railway was under pressure from the councils of Burnley and Rochdale, to fulfil its promise to construct a line from Colne via Burnley, through Bacup and Rochdale, to Guide Bridge. The Bacup Local Board would also pledge its support to this appeal. December On the instruction of the Board of Trade, Captain Taylor was assigned to look into and report on the spate of accidents on the L & Y’s railways in and around Accrington Station. The first accident he reported upon was one which had occurred on September 25 th , when the engine on the 6:15pm train from Manchester derailed when passing over the points opposite the platform. He discovered that the rod which moves the points had come out of its pulley and this had not been noticed. He recommended that a guard should be placed over this rod to stop it from coming free, and this was a modification which was being fitted to all new points currently being installed. When dealing with the accident involving the Corpse Van, he concluded that in future all points should be interlocked with the signals, as a stop block would have prevented this van from exiting the siding onto the running lines. The L & Y had since contacted him to say that they were prepared to carry out this modification at once. On the accident which occurred on October 11 th , in which seven carriages and a van were being shunted on the line opposite the ticket platform at the south end of the station, and not stopping in time had come into violent contact with a rake of carriages to which they were to be coupled. He concluded that this was the fault of the Guard, who had misjudged the distance and then not applied the brake as hard as was necessary in order to avoid the crash in which two passengers were hurt. The train had come down a section of incline with a gradient of 1 in 40 before entering a section of level line about 100 yards in length, but the rails were wet and slippery. The train had travelled about 80 yards before the collision. In summing up Captain Taylor said, “On investigation I have discovered that there has been several accidents of a serious nature at Accrington Station within the past twenty years, which had less severe consequences than might otherwise have been the case. I conclude that the methods of operation there are most unsatisfactory, but cannot possibly be resolved whilst the station remains in its current configuration. Although this will require a substantial amount of expenditure in order to find a satisfactory remedy, I must recommend that this important station be enlarged and rearranged as soon as it is practical”. 1875 January The firm of John Parker of Accrington constructed a warehouse for the handling of grain in the goods yard of the railway with an entrance/exit off Scaitcliffe Street at a cost of £2,800. On the 4 th , four Church men Messrs Clegg, Grime, Heaps and Wolstenholme brought a case against the L & Y for the sum of 5/10d, the taxi fare from Blackburn Railway Station to Over Darwen. On November 30 th last, their train from Church was running thirteen minutes late due to thick fog, and they missed their connection onto a Bolton-bound train. The Station Master in Blackburn, Mr Houghton, explained that it was practice to hold trains for ten minutes, and that instead of arriving at 10:18 the train had pulled in at 10:31, three minutes after the Bolton train had been dispatched. His Honour ruled that the Darwen train had been held for a ‘reasonable’ length of time and dismissed the charge against the L & Y. February Several influential manufacturers met together to discuss the plans drawn up by Mr Tattersall, for a scheme to be named the ‘New Lancashire Manufacturing Town’s Railway Company’. This proposed line would connect Manchester and Colne via Middleton, Heywood, Rochdale, Bacup and Burnley, to meet with the Midland Railway’s lines.

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