Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

However, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Junction Railway failed to come to fruition. It was pdousrsinibglethteheaat ritlyceorualdofnroatilawttarya-cmt aennioau. gh subscribers in the face of competition from other schemes, THE EAST LANCASHIRE RAILWAY ERA Following petitions from the citizens of Accrington the extension of the Manchester, Bury & Rawtenstall Railway was given Royal Assent during February, 1845, from Stubbins Junction through Helmshore, Haslingden and Baxenden to Accrington. The Bill giving Royal Assent to the Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington & Colne Extension was granted on June 30 th , 1845. Even though construction of the extension to Accrington from Ramsbottom was not yet completed it was decided to merge the two Companies. There was some disquiet about the fact that the Manchester, Bury & Rawtenstall Railway’s shares had a value of £17, those of the Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington & Colne Extension were worth only £6 – 10s – 0d each. However, the merger took place by Act of Parliament on August 3 rd , 1846. At the merger the capital of the East Lancashire Railway stood at £1,020,000, with powers to raise a further £296,000 if necessary. LOCOMOTIVES & ROLLING STOCK The initial allocation of locomotives to Accrington’s engine shed would have included passenger locomotives built at the Richard Walker & Brother’s Works at Bury. They, not surprisingly, had never built a steam locomotive before this initial order, but Richard Walker was a director of the East Lancashire Railway after all. The initial order was for forty locomotives of two wheel arrangements, 2-2 2 and 2-4-0 to the design of another firm, Sharp Brothers. Later at the request of Richard Walker this order was reduced to twenty-two engines. It will be noted that after this order was delivered Walkers did not ever build a steam locomotive again! The locomotives of the East Lancashire Railway were painted in a shade of dark green with black and white lining. The outside frames were finished in a reddish-brown, and the locomotives had polished brass safety valves and domes. By 1867 the company had established its own locomotive works close to the engine sheds in Bury where the company had its headquarters. This works, at Buckley Wells, repaired and rebuilt the East Lancashire Railway’s locomotives and built its own rolling stock. The passenger carriages were finished in various shades of blue, lighter for the 3 rd and 2 nd Classes, dark blue for the 1 st class. With such a small concentrated system it is possible that all the locomotives of the East Lancashire Railway appeared through Accrington at some stage of their existence. Little is known of which were actually allocated to the shed, but a full list of stock follows and itemised class by class. It should be noted that classes were named after the first locomotive of that particular class, and numbers were probably allocated in the chronological order in which the engines entered service, which is why they are not continuous. The ‘ Medusa’ Class, built by Richard Walker & Brother, Bury. No . Name. Type. Date new. Rebuilding date. Date withdrawn. 1 Medusa 2 – 2 - 2 September 1846 1853 to 2 – 4 – 0 tank January 1867 3 Hecate 2 – 2 - 2 May 1846 1854 to 2 – 4 – 0 tank January 1867 10 Diomed 2 – 2 - 2 December 1846 1854 to 2 – 4 – 0 tank June 1869 18 Lynx 2 – 2 - 2 May 1846 1854 to 2 – 4 – 0 tank September 1867

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