Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Late in the evening of Saturday the 20 th , a Freightliner engineering train passed through and returned topped-and-tailed behind 66:413 named ‘ Lest We Forget ’ and another 66 in the latest orange livery, en route to and from Doncaster. These locos are based on Leeds – Midland Road Depot. From Sunday the 22 nd , the summer timetables came into operation with operators adding some extra services to their schedules including Northern. After a full week when the VTG tanks did not run, on Tuesday the 23 rd , the service was in operation once again, behind 70:809. It was running a full quarter of an hour in front of the booked time, and heading once again for Haverton with thirteen bogies on tow. Saturday the 27th, was also a day to remember when a special passed through en route from Ayr to Scarborough. Marketed as ‘The Statesman’ it was double headed through Accrington behind 47:593 ‘ Galloway Princes ’ and 47:712 ‘ Lady Diana Spenser ’ on a rake of all-Pullman stock including a kitchen car. The day had suffered a mishap at Kilmarnock and as a result was one-hour-and-a-half late. Usually trains which run into Scarborough, which is a railhead, are topped and tailed to keep a locomotive on the correct end for the return journey, so the reason for having both leading could have been the failure of ScotRail liveried ScotRail liveried 47:712. 47:593 now sports ‘large logo’ livery complete with Scottie Dog emblem, and was new to Haymarket sheds in Edinburgh in November ‘65 as D1973. It received TOPS number 47:272 in September 1974, and carried was 47:673 and 47:790. It also has sported several other nameplates including ‘ Saint David/Dewi Sant ’ and ‘ York InterCity Control ’ reverting back to its original name ‘ Galloway Princes ’ in 2007. In contrast 47:712 was new in August 1966 and allocated to the West Coast Main Line Division as D1948, later TOPS 47:505. It too has carried a series of names in order ‘ Pride of Carlisle, Artemis & Dick Whittington before being sent to Scotland to operate the speeded-up push-pull services between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street, where it received its current nameplates whilst also allocated to Haymarket. Later on in the day, following a much reduced stay in Scarborough, 47:593 returned without its partner, which had obviously been the cause of the lost time earlier, (it was left in the sidings at the resort to be recovered by 37:688 ‘ Great Rocks ’ two days later). Without having to drag the extra one-hundred or so dead weight, on this occasion it was right on schedule. All these engines are now operated by Locomotive Services Ltd, and are maintained in Crewe by the LNWR Heritage Company. Although not affecting the services that operate on the East Lancs Line, it has been announced that due to poor performance over a long period of time, Trans-Pennine Express has been stripped of its franchise. It will henceforth be known as Trans-Pennine Trains and will be under the control of ‘an operator of last resort’, in other words re-nationalised. It joins six other operators including Northern who have suffered the same fate in recent times. This has once again fuelled calls for the entire system to be brought back into public ownership. The last day of the month saw the area’s network without any trains due to the ongoing dispute between the members of ASLEF and the rail operators. However, despite being selected as a strike day GB Rail Freight did operated an empty ballast train between Leyland and Doncaster Down Decoy Sidings behind 66:761at just before 07:30 on Wednesday the 31 st . June On Friday the 2 nd it was the turn of the Rail Maritime Unions’ members to come out in their dispute, whilst Saturday the 3 rd once again there would be no trains on the East Lancs Line due to action by ASLEF. This dispute has now been running for almost two years and is as much about terms and conditions as pay, although offers of 4% for each of 2022 and 2023 have fallen well short of inflation. Backed by the government, who want to illuminate having a second person on the train and have drivers made responsible for opening and closing doors, the train operators claim their hands are tied in this quarrel. Also on the list of issues are overtime working arrangements and job security. According to the General Secretary his members are fully backing further industrial action into the summer, unless the operating company bosses come back to the table with an acceptable offer and reasonable agreements on terms. One of the reasons for poor performance is a shortage of fully trained staff. I was once informed by a guard/conductor working for Northern, after he started and when he took his break there would be up to three spare staff on standby in the canteen at Preston Station. But of recent times there wasn’t any spare

519