Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Bridge, Stockport, Cheadle Hulme, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Sandbach to Crewe where it terminated at 17:24. This train consisted of loco 37:418 ' An Comunn Glaidhealach ' and inspection saloon #975025 ' Caroline ' in a green livery. This locomotive was new to Cardiff Canton Sheds in March 1965 as number D6971, and also carried TOPS number 37:271. It had a period in preservation with Steve Benistol but is now owned by LORAM (UK). After a period of almost two weeks on Thursday the 17 th , the Colas Rail tanker train reappeared behind 56:105. The same combination ran again on the following day. In the early evening of Saturday the 26 th , West Coast Railways return from Carlisle passed through Accrington on its way back to Nottingham where the excursion had commenced earlier in the day. The locomotives were 57:601 with 57:313 a regular combination. Despite being a Train Operator of Choice (TOC) Northern Rail has been issued with a warning from the office of the Rail Regulator that it must improve its reliability. It has had a long-running spate of cancellations (over 1,000 during half-term alone), and a record of poor timings, often resulting in emergency substitution of rail replacement coaches at short notice. November The month started badly for Colas Rail as on Friday the 1 st , the tanker train stalled whilst going up Copy Pit incline. It blocked the line to all following services from York via Leeds to Blackpool North and from Manchester to Blackburn via Todmorden. Running 209 minutes late it passed through Accrington behind 56:105, the same locomotive that had powered it the previous day. There had been no such problems for GB Railfreight's 66:307 ' Ipswich Town ' going east on a stone train earlier in the day. This particular engine had been repatriated from mainland Europe, where it had operated numbered 77502. It has been announced that the flow of bitumen trains between Haverton Hill, Billingham-on-Tees and Preston Docks is to be transferred to road haulage by the end of this month. This is as a result of lesser volumes of bitumen being processed than at first predicted by the Fench-owned Company, Not due to the problems with locomotives although this had been something of a problem in recent times. The flow of loaded tanks originally came from Lindsey Oil Refinery near Scunthorpe, but for the last year and a half had originated from the North East and having been unloaded on the docks one-and-a-half mile branch returned later on in the morning. It has been announced that Northern Rail has negotiated an agreement with the RMT to alleviate the problems with cancellations over the weekends. It appears as though on this occasion the drivers were not the source of the majority of these issues, but the train 'conductors' who were reluctant to work on Saturdays or Sundays. This rapidly follows warnings given to the operator to Improve or else On Tuesday the 12 th there was a light engine movement from Castleton, where the East Lancs Preserved Railway connects with the network, to Carnforth the headquarters of the West Coast Railways Company . The engine involved was 37:676 ' Loch Rannock '. This locomotive was to new to Cardiff Canton Sheds in May 1963 as D6826. It later carried TOPS number 37:126. It had been delivering empty coaching stock to the heritage line. It was a busy morning on Friday the 15 th as two trains of note passed through Accrington. The first was an empty returning train of hopper wagons behind GB Railfreight's 60:095 ' Snowdon ', a Toton based locomotive leased from Beacon Rail. Although there was a normal train service on Saturday the 16 th , Rail Replacements were again in operation on Sunday the 17 th . Various North West politicians have met with the managers of Northern Rail and told them that their plans for improving services are not acceptable and not quick enough to alleviate the problems of cancellations, over-crowding and late running. On Thursday the 21 st trains coming from east of the Pennines were running late having departed from York behind time. The ticket office at Accrington Station was closed so people were having to use the ticket machine in order to purchase their tickets, but this too was on the blink enabling the acquisition of a 'Promise to Pay' card despite several attempts. A revenue team was on the platform and Simon assured us we could pay the guard after boarding. However, on the hour-long journey to Blackpool North no one came through the three carriages of the 195 unit so when we arrived in the resort had to negotiate our way out. Worse was to come, for the region had been subjected to storm Bert, and on Saturday

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