Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

ended his letter with the proposal, “That it would link into a projected new bus station for the town, which could be located nearer to the station”. September The transport lobbying group Transport 2000 had come to the conclusion that the rail network in North East Lancashire needed expanding, to counteract the increasing problems of road traffic gridlock. They stated that enhanced rail links to Manchester, the Peak District and beyond were essential if the region was to prosper. They were the keys to greater social inclusion, commerce, infrastructure and industry. The Government were to announce their thirty-year plan for the rail network during 2007. THE ST JAMES’ DAY TRIPPER It was with a great deal of regret it was announced that September , 2006 would see the final running of the St James’ Day Tripper railway excursions. Starting in 1987 with a mystery charter train which visited Canterbury and Dover, the Blackburn-based organisation had run no less than forty-two specials over a nineteen year period. But of recent times arranging paths for non-scheduled runs had become increasingly more and more difficult. This had been part due to weekend engineering works and part due to an increasingly intensive use of the rail network. ( I myself had taken advantage of these ‘specials’ on numerous occasions, accompanied by my son on some of the earlier ones, so I would be sorry to see them go. Unfortunately due to other commitments I would be unable to take part in the final one to York and back, even though it would be steam hauled .) Inaugurated initially to raise funds for the repair of their Church’s roof, the team had run its first charter on March 25 th , 1987 which unfortunately operated at a “considerable loss”. But undeterred they carried on and a year later broke even, before eventually showing a profit for their cause. Perhaps it was the threatened closing of the Settle - Carlisle line which helped to turn things around as during 1988 and 1989 two excursions were operated over this scenic route which attracted over 500 passengers each . With all the proceeds going to other various charities, there had been about £200,000 raised for good causes, including £10,000 for the Chorley Children’s Hospice, Derian House. It had been calculated that over 21,000 passenger journeys were made, and that the total mileage clocked up behind electric, diesel and steam traction was in excess of 19,500 miles. Some of the destinations reached included the cities of London, Newcastle and Edinburgh, and the resorts at Bournemouth, Torquay and Great Yarmouth. There were of course glitches on some of the outings with signal failures, track maintenance, and even locomotive failures, but all in all they were extremely pleasurable outings which will be sadly missed. The headboard carried by the locomotives on these occasions, would be mounted on the wall in St James’ Church as a fitting reminder of this marvellous achievement. The way the organiser Ian Stocks explained it - “Since the privatisation of British Rail we have experienced considerable difficulty in running tphreessee nttreadi npsa. r tTi chuel abr rpe raokbi nl egmus pf o or fp eBoRp l ei nstuo c ht wa es nutsy. -Wf i vhei l sTtrwa ien c Oa np ehri ar et i nt hge Cc oo amc ph ai nngi esst o(cTkOf Cr osm) ht ha es Wt h ee sTt OCCo sa. sTt hReayi l wh aavye Caot mt i pmaensypirno Cv ea dr nvf eorryt hd, itf hf iec ul ol tc toomdoetai vl ews i tahn, de st rpaeicni aclrl ye wwsh ae rne t pr yr ionvgi dt eo do bb yt a oi nn ea noyf isnofuorrcme aot ifo no .uHr odwi fef ivceurl, tiine sm. iItti gwa tai so nhtahredy thoa vbee hl i ae dv et ot hdaeta l t wh iist hCRoami lpt raancyk, , wwhh ioc hI boewl i envse tthoeb er atihl se raenadl choa nd t br oelesnt hk ee esni gtnoapl lliancge, ehvaedr ya npyo si ns itbe lree sbta irnr i ae lrl oi nwti hn eg wC ha ay.r Tt erra iTnr apiantsh itnogo, pt i emr ai nt eg sa at nadl l !e Cv ee rr tianicnrleyatshi ne yg cj uossttisf i ewde. rIen t ahde dmi t iaoi nn pt or ot bh li es ,mws et hweeyr ec l an iemv eerd gtiov ebne tnheec eospspaor ryt, ubnui tt ywteo hnaedg oytei at tteo wb ei t hc ot nh ve imn caenddwaesr ea cwohnesne qtuhei nn cges whearde lbeef te nw i tgho ian ‘gt a ks oe i twoerl ll eaanv de i tw’ sei t eu na tj oi oyne .dI asmo smo uscohr r yt hteo hs aa vt ies ftaoc itni of onr mo f y op ur oovfi dt hi ni sg, et enaj mo y mwehnot hf oarv es os ump apnoyr t pe de omp lee,. eI swp eocuiladl l yl i kme yt owei fxep rJ ee sasn ,mayl osnign cwe ri tehs t Ktehna ,n Mk se trol e ,a lGl etohreg em, aErrviecl laonuds Pe xapu rl ienses,eads two eyl lo aus oJ aukr ep, aL si ssae,nDg ue rnsc, asno, mA lei soofn ,wJ ahno imn eh, Jauvlei atnr aavnedl l eGdr awh ai tmh . uS sp eocni aml tahnayn kosc cmaus isot nasl .s oG ob de bless you all.”

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