Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Employees of the L & Y forwarded a raft of grievances to put before the directors of the L & Y. They stated that they deplored the fact that their working day could be anything from 12 to 15 hours long, whilst receiving no extra remuneration for this extra time. On every alternative Sunday worked, the day could be anything between 8 and 18 hours long, and this included for Station Masters, Inspectors, Guards, Ticket Collectors and Examiners, the railway’s Police, Shunters and Porters, and even more dangerously for Signalmen. Whilst describing the overall state of the railway as “appalling”, the memo suggested that work should be limited to 10 hours per day, with the exception of Signalmen who should be limited to a maximum of 8 hours per day and all Sunday working should be paid as overtime. On Saturday the 27 th , Robert Marriott, a Line Inspector with the L & Y, was killed at Accrington Station. In order to tackle the Baxenden incline the Manchester trains were double-headed, and on this particular occasion both engines were blowing off steam simultaneously, and as they departed a large emission from the safety valves had formed a dense cloud. Marriott was crossing the lines having got down from the platform to go back to his office, when he was struck by a van which was being shunted and came at him through this cloud. It initially struck him in the back, but then ran over the top of his head. Doctors Ewart and Raith, were summoned from the nearby Accrington Dispensary, but to no avail as the 51 year old had already passed away. The inquest was held at the Derby Hotel on St. James Street, where the body had been taken, and following witness statements a verdict of accidental death was recorded. March On the morning of Saturday the 20 th the train from Manchester had arrived at 9:50 on Scaitcliffe Bridge and had been divided as was usual, with the front portion going on to Burnley, whilst the rear section had been shunted onto the Blackburn siding. At 9:59 this section was hit by a guard’s van which had come down Baxenden Bank at a ‘frightful’ speed. There was no time in which to raise an alarm before it smashed into the guard’s compartment of the rear carriage, which was completely caved in. Fortunately, the Guard who had locked down the brakes had left it to go through the train to collect tickets. The rest of this carriage contained two 2nd Class compartments, the middle carriage was for the 1st Class, whilst 3rd Class passengers were in the carriage furthest from the impact. The force of the collision threw the 1st Class carriage off the lines, and all the plate glass windows in the carriages were displaced. Mr Pearson, the Station Master, was quickly on the scene, and Doctors Cannell, Byles and Booth were sent for. Those passengers that were injured to the point where they could not walk were carried to the waiting rooms. It was rumoured that a Rawtenstall man, George Furness, had been killed, but this proved to be false. The Guard’s van, which weighed not much more than ten tons, was of the oldest type still being used on the L & Y. An immediate investigation was launched as to the cause of why it came down the incline in this way. In 1875, Mr Jesse Holman, who hailed from a village near Stratford-upon-Avon, became a porter at Baxenden Station and within a year had graduated to signalman there. One year later he was transferred to Accrington in the capacity of ‘Relief Signalman’ for the district, and worked in several of the local cabins. He was also a member of the Accrington Naturalists & Antiquarian Society, twice being elected as President. Just below Baxenden Railway Station was a goods siding belonging to a colliery, and a curve in the lines prevented trains departing Baxenden Station from being seen, so a driver and guard had to keep a sharp lookout in order not to go across the points when a train is due. If the Manchester train happened to be running late, then a driver of a goods train might decide that there was sufficient time for him to go over the junction on to the running lines. A train had been allowed to pass through, and in order to make up the goods train some extra wagons had to be attached, and the guard’s van was put onto the running lines in order to allow this to take place. The Guard was expected to set the points and as the van rolled past he had tried to board it. On this occasion he was too far away and could not reach the van as it began to pick up pace. He called out to a young man, a greaser called Thomas Ashton, to jump aboard the van and apply the brakes, which he did. But he was not a railwayman and did not know how to release the catch on the ratchet that controls the brake wheel, and as a result he wound it further off rather than on! The van began to descend the 1 in 38/40 incline, the steepest on the L & Y at a speed which reached 60mph. After he had jumped clear realising he could not stop it, Mr Walmsley, the guard who should have been in control of the van, had been suspended from his duties. A letter was received from the Manager of the Colliery -

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