Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Baxenden Railway Station opened for passengers on the 17 th of August 1848. It had just two platforms and four long sidings through the goods yard, one of which passed through the small goods shed. In the yard there were six shorter lines and a facing spur. Access to the station and yard was off Manchester Road. On the down side there were also a small number of sidings which connected the system to the adjacent chemical works. At the foot of the Baxenden incline was a substantial industrial pond known as Wellington Lodge, which was crossed on a metal latticework girder bridge 210 feet long, resting on large metal cylinders that were sunk into the bedrock beneath the water, ( these are painted in oxide red and still in situ today ). It has been suggested but not authenticated that this bridge was, like the Aspen Valley Viaduct, originally wooden in construction and had a pedestrian walkway. The Board had looked at several types of traction due to the undulating nature of the terrain to be crossed, as it was thought at the time that a gradient of 1 in 70 was the severest that a locomotive using adhesion would be able to negotiate. The incline between the summit at Rising Bridge 771 feet above sea level and Accrington would have a ruling grade of 1 in 40 and a short section at 1 in 38. One alternative was a rope and pulley system using a winding engine at the top. Another was a gravity system with a descending train counterbalancing one ascending the bank, which was referred to by the railway engineers as the ‘Alpine Ridge’. However it was decided that a six-coupled steam locomotive could manage to take a load up the bank with the assistance of a ‘banking’ engine at the rear. Later due to the steepness of the incline between Baxenden summit and Accrington Station a sand drag was installed, in order to slow any runaway stock that might come adrift on the bank and roll backwards. It was entered by points facing the down line, 119 yards in length and the first on any of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway’s lines. This was a safety precaution as the bank commenced at the end of the platforms on the bridge over Eagle Street/Scaitcliffe Street. The LANCASHIRE & YORKSHIRE JUNCTION RAILWAY - of 1843 In 1843 a prospectus was issued by the promotors of this scheme with shares offered at £50 each, secured by a deposit of £2-10s-0d per share. This was in order to raise a sum of £800,000. A pamphlet was issued in order to attract investors, extracts from this prospectus were; - This project is designed to connect the Blackburn & Preston Railway with the Leeds & BWrha adlfloeryd, CRlai ti hl we raoy.e I, t Pwa di l il hpaams s, Bt hurronul eg yh, (Coorl nn ee ,a Sr kt oi p)t, ot nh e, Kt oe wi g nh sl ehyi ,p Bs ionfgBl el ya,c Sk hb iuprlne ,yCahnudr cBh r, aAdcfcorri dn .g Tt ohne, population of the areas in 1843 was estimated at 350,000. A branch from Accrington would then pass through Haslingden to connect with the Ml e na ng tchh eosf t et hr eB lui nr ye awnads Rp oust s ae tn da ba loeu tR a4 i5l wma yi l, etsh. uBse fsoi dr me si nc go nan de icrt ei nc tg rLoeuetde s wwi ti ht h MMaanncchhees st et er .r , Ti ht ew toout ladl ac ll as oi mf oe dr mt haa tc ot hnen edci tsitoann cwe i tbhe ttwh ee epno rLtese odfs Kainndg sGt ol ans-guopwo nw- Ho uu ll dl , Lb iev es rhpoor ot el ra bn yd tFhl ee eLt &wYo JoRd .bIyt swoams ea l2s 0o miles, going via the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway than by any other existing route. ( The Settle & Carlisle Line opening was many years away ). The advantages highlighted were, that the line would pass through areas of high agriculture aBny dul si vi ne gs t ot hc ke pe rxot ednuscitvi eo na, ma los uo nptlsa coefs fwr eeerset oc no ae l ,mg raat enri ti ae l, lqi mu aersrt ioende oann dt hs el a tceo uwresree omf i nt heed liinn eq,u iat nwt i tays. cbloaoi ms tetdo u“ Tr ihs ims , rma i lawk ai nygwi to mu l do rceocsot nsvi genniifei nc at nf ot lry tlhees si nt hc raena soitnhge rn ur ami lbwearysswt oh oc ot rnasvt er ul lcetd”. tIot wt hoeucl do aasltsaol rCeosmo rmt si t dt euer ionf g2 w0 hn aott awbal es pduebs cl irci bf iegdu raess ‘ wt haes bCal et hmi ne gn ts Re aosyodns ’. EIsnqd, et ehde , cohnaei r mm ea mn bo fe rt hoef Pt hr ees Pt orno v&i sWi o ynrael Rt raaivl we rasye Ch oa dmvpoaincye.dI tt hwe iars saulps po ocrlta, iamneddt ht he ya tw“oMual dn yb eo fc ot hmepoewn snaetresd of of retsht iast ews i twh hsihc ahr et hs ”i .s l i n e w o u l d This was the first occasion that these two counties were linked in the title of a railway company, pre-dating the formation of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway by several years.

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