Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

carried 47:068 and then 47:632, and also carried the names ‘Newton Abbot Festival Of Transport’ and then ‘Titan Star’. West Coast obtained from the Rail Operations Group, Leicester. Accrington Railway Station is one of ten on the Blackburn to Manchester (and beyond) services in a film designed to encourage autism sufferers to use the railways more. This will be the first “autism friendly” train service in Britain, launched for the World Autism Acceptance Week. On Wednesday the 6 th , the VTG Tankers were again running on a late schedule, heading west towards Preston Docks hour later than it should have been, returning east to Lindsey Oil Terminal. The engine in charge was Colas Rail’s 70:814. This is from the pool of locomotives operated by the company that are maintained at Cardiff Canton Sheds. It eventually returned through Accrington at 15:00. It would remain the loco rostered to this service during the coming week. On Tuesday the 19 th , the first day following the Easter weekend, 56:049 and 56:302 were back double-heading the VTG tanks. This service between Lindsey Oil Terminal and Preston Docks was operating some 197 minutes late. It passed through town on its return journey at 12:15. This would be the combination of locomotives for the remainder of the week. May It had been announced that access to Accrington’s Railway Station would be restricted over the next few weeks, as renovations were necessary to the pathways leading up to the platforms on the Eagle Street side. It would be possible to reach them through the foyer of the booking hall whist this is open, but passengers will be able to access them in the normal way when the booking office has closed after 3pm. There have been problems with drainage of recent times. The eco-friendly station has been open now for approximately twelve years and Net-Work Rail had to restrict access during certain times in order to carry out this work. Late in the evening of Saturday the 7 th , West Coast Railway’s passed through on an empty stock working from Wakefield to Carnforth, with 47:804 and 47:815 as the locomotives employed. Earlier in the day they had worked the Wakefield to Edinburgh and return excursion. Following a week in which it did not operate the VTG tanker train was back in operation on Monday the 9th, with Colas Rail’s 70:801 at the helm. The entrance to the railway station from the Paxton Street side was made more accessible when a zig-zag slope was put in, to allow easier access other than by the steep slope which up until modernisation in 2010 led up to the booking hall on that side. This incline was almost impassable to disabled people, hard work for the elderly and positively dangerous during icy conditions. However, from May the 9 th , for a period of several weeks even this gradual incline was closed off for remedial work to take place. This meant of course that there was no other alternative way in from that side. At midnight on Saturday the 14 th the ‘summer timetable’ came into operation, with just a few modest alterations to the number of services available. “We base our services on our levels of resource”, was the response to an appeal to Chris Jackson Northern Rail’s Regional Director, requesting an increase in train services from Rishton. There were no trains between 06:48 and 08:48 on weekday mornings, which was directly affecting students who needed to be at the University of Central Lancashire’s Preston Campus for a 09:00 start. The apparent problem is brought about by “staffing issues”, which meant that services with the highest demand were given priority over those which are less well patronised, including the local Colne to Preston service. The councillor pressing for changes had previously been unsuccessful in a bid to have trains on the Blackburn to Manchester/Kirby services call at Rishton. For the first time for a considerable period, Freightliner made an appearance in Accrington, when 66:545 passed through in the morning of Sunday the 22 nd . It brought a train of twelve open wagons containing spoil ballast from Greetland Junction on the Calder Valley Line to Blackburn. It went west at 09:44 and returned at 10:47. This train ran again on Sunday the 29 th , on this occasion the locomotive in charge was 66:566. The pathing and load were similar to the previous week, but the timings were 08:53 west and 09:44 east. The VTG tanker train provided a significant surprise on Tuesday the 31 st , the final day of the month. Instead of the usual Class 70, or the now rarer pairing of Class 56s, the motive power was provided by Colas Rail’s 66:850 named David Maidment OBE . This was formally 66:577 and is allocated to Hoo Junction in Kent for maintenance purposes, unlike the Class 70s which are serviced at Cardiff Canton. This loco would return again on the 1 st of June.

509