Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

connectivity between the two units. Amongst those noted on the Leeds to Blackpool North service on Sunday the 19 th , was 195:122, a tree-car set. The final four of Northern’s Class 142 ‘Pacer’ units left in service had been withdrawn and were parked on Newton Heath Depot this week. Plans for a farewell tour using these ‘Nodding Donkeys’, has had to be shelved because of the lockdown. It was reported that twelve have already been secured by various private railways for use on preserved lines. This was not surprising as they were relatively cheap to buy and economical to run. On Monday the 27 th , the VTG tanker train was back behind Class 70 haulage, on this occasion #813. It hadn’t operated on every weekday since it returned after a period of several weeks. May Although not running every day, the VTG train between Preston Docks and Immingham had recommenced operating and on Tuesday the 5 th , was behind 70:810. The standard rake seems to be twelve bogie tank wagons. The same engine seems to be allocated to this task for the whole week, and one week later the loco was 70:806. The Blackpool to Leeds service now seemed to be predominantly operated by the new 195 units, and on Thursday the 7 th , the combination was 195:017 and 195:010 operating in tandem. Whether both were open to passengers remains a mystery as there is no connectivity between the two, two-car units, although passenger numbers suggest that it was hardly necessary. It came as quite a surprise under the present circumstances, to hear it announced that ‘officials’ from the Ministry of Transport were seriously appraising the viability of reopening the Colne to Skipton route. They were looking at the costings of reinstating the eleven-and-a-half mile line and its economic viability in terms of passenger usage, its potential for attracting new businesses and increasing employment. The decommissioning of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station possibly meant there would be less freight traffic crossing the Pennines, but this route could provide an alternative in order to relieve some of the pressure on the existing lines between east and west. In a letter to the current MP, Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris had confirmed that he was requesting specific proposals be brought forward to make an assessment of the viability of the line. He hoped that capital costs could be “substantially reduced” from the £100millions that was previously the estimate given by the Skipton - East Lancs Rail Action Partnership. Once again the possibility of establishing a freight terminal at the former Huncoat Power Station had been included in these proposals, which would also serve trains crossing the Pennines on the Todmorden to Burnley route over Copy Pit. Of course it was Graham Jones, the previous MP, who championed the reopening of the Colne to Skipton section whilst he was Chair of the Transport Across The North Parliamentary Group. He was also successful in having the Todmorden Curve reinstated. This move has been welcomed by the Communications Officer for SELRAP, Andy Shackleton, who said, “This is what the group has been aiming to achieve for many years now”. With its usual penchant for inaccuracy, the local paper has reported that the line was one closed under the Beeching proposals in 1970, which it was not. Only the line between Accrington and Bury fell under his axe. The locomotive on the VTG tanker train on Monday the 18 th , was 70:809, with 195:124 and 195:117 the units on the cross Pennine services. In an unusual move, as the same engine(s) are normally the one rostered throughout the entire week, on Wednesday the 20 th , the motive power had changed to 70:805. In addition to this, whereas the VTG train usually comes through going east at 10:45, it did not appear until after mid-day. In another different move Northern were supplementing the Blackburn  Manchester service with a Class 153 unit coupled to the usual 150, in this instance 153:304. Later in the same week 70:809 was back on the tanks, with 195:111 on the Leeds  Blackpool run. In a very unusual move 56:094 was noted going west light engine on the morning of Friday the 22 nd . The unit operating the local Preston to Colne service was 150:145, with very few passengers visible on the offside. On Monday the 25 th , which was the Spring Bank Holiday, there was an unusual working in that Colas Rail’s 56:078 was noted piloting 56:094 on a train of high capacity ballast wagons going east at mid-day. On Thursday the 28 th , it was back to Class 70 haulage on the VTG tanks, with 70:814 in charge. Unit 153:307 was supplementing the Blackburn  Manchester, 195:111 was on the Leeds  Blackpool North service and 150:122 was operating the Preston  Colne service. Former MP Graham Jones had written to the local paper expressing doubts about this government’s intentions, with regard to the reopening of the Colne to Skipton railway line. Whilst praising the efforts of SELRAP for keeping this project in the public eye, he feared that it would be side-

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