Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

thirteen signal boxes between Whitebirk Junction at the Blackburn end and Rose Grove on the Burnley side. It also contained the smallest station on the entire Lancashire & Yorkshire system at Simonstone, which was known locally as “Lamp Oil Junction”. This station was to be renamed ‘Simonstone for Read’ according to a proposal made in 1919, but this was not followed through. August On Saturday, the 18 th , the Government’s Inspector of Railways, Colonel Richardson, made an inspection of part of the North Lancashire Avoiding Line, and passed the section between Great Harwood and Padiham as open to traffic. It was expected that the section between Padiham and Rose Grove would follow. Operation of the Rose Grove to Padiham section had commenced in July, 1876, whilst the section between Whitebirk Junction and Padiham did not commence until October 15 th 1877, when the first passenger and goods trains ran right through, the delay being caused by the landslip. On Friday, the 28 th , General Hutchinson another of the Government’s Inspectors of Railways, travelled over the section of the Harwood Loop between Whitebirk Junction and Padiham Station accompanied by Mr J. Maddocks, the General Superintendent of the L & Y. Also in the party were Messrs Hunt and Green of the engineer’s department, Mr Wright, the Locomotive Superintendent, Mr Goodier the District Superintendent and Mr Swinbourne, the Permanent Way Superintendent. They departed Blackburn in the engineer’s inspection saloon hauled by one locomotive at 12 o’clock. They halted at all bridges, viaducts and tunnels. In order to test them 2 x 40 ton locomotives were sent behind them, so that they might observe and measure any stresses on the bridges. Gen. Hutchinson also had a carriage uncoupled and allowed to roll back down an incline of 1 in 40 to see how far it would go. It finally came to a stand close to Simonstone Station on a section of level track, which seemed to appease him. They finally arrived in Padiham at 3:30pm, where a large crowd had assembled on the platforms. It was expected that Gen. Hutchinson would publish his report within a fortnight. ( The final scheduled passenger train ran between Blackburn and Burnley on November 30 th , 1957. Although regular passenger services had ceased, excursion traffic continued into the mid-sixties and holiday trains operated until 1964. The main freight workings were sustained by coal traffic to Padiham Power Station which had opened in 1927. This traffic also ended when the site was shut down in 1994. In 1957 it was estimated the line was losing £9,600, but it was rumoured that this figure was exaggerated in order to justify its lifting. During the busy excursion periods of the holidays this line was a popular place for train-spotters, as in order to relieve congestion on the Accrington line many of the seaside excursion trains from over the Pennines were routed over the Harwood Loop, bringing Eastern Region locomotives through on their way to the coastal resorts of Lancashire. Due to the severity of the section between Padiham and Rose Grove, freight trains were limited to load no more than 35 wagons/vans, even in later times, when WD and Stanier 8-coupled locomotives were available. It was also said that DMUs could not sustain enough traction at the rails to successfully climb the incline. Another landmark on the North Lancashire Avoiding Line, was the railway bridge which crossed Whalley Road at Harwood Bar just above Hyndburn Bridge. This was too low for a double deck bus to pass beneath it, and meant services running direct between Accrington, Whalley and Clitheroe, had to be operated by saloon buses, whilst most services avoided this obstacle by diverting around Great Harwood to reach Whalley Road on the other side of the bridge. This structure was known locally as the ‘Ferodo’ bridge, due to the advertisement it carried for that company over a good number of years for their ‘anti fade brake linings’. This landmark obstacle was removed during 1968 .) 1877 It was during this year that the then Lancashire & Yorkshire Railways Carriage & Wagon Superintendent, Mr F. Attock, introduced bogie carriages with gas lighting, in order to replace the unlit 4 wheel passenger carriages. He would go on to introduce lavatories in 1st Class carriages (1884), upholstered seating (1887) and steam heating (1892). January On Thursday, the 4 th , the annual Christmas Dinner of the families and employees of the railway in Accrington was held at Crawshaw’s Public Hall, with the catering provided by Mr & Mrs Crawshaw, the licensees of the Crown Hotel next door. The L & Y successfully prosecuted John Sharples for boarding a train in Church Station whilst it was in motion. This offence had occurred on November 22 nd , last, when the 9:19am train had started off for Blackburn. Inspector Ayreton stated, “First he jumped onto a 1st Class coach then dropped off to jump on again, this time onto a 2nd Class compartment. The Company were keen to set an example, as had he

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