Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Station Master and his family, which had facilities for recreation in the form of a tennis court and also an allotment for keeping poultry. The block system of signalling was rolled out across the entire L & Y network of tracks. Now a signalman had not only to receive a train, but had to receive a ‘line clear’ signal from the next box along the line before accepting it. He also had to send forward a message that a train had been released, thus making a double check that the line was clear. March There were several alterations to train services from Accrington as follows - Most trains to both Manchester and Preston were retimed to depart slightly earlier. The Tuesdays & Fridays Market Trains would now operate on all weekdays, Saturdays excepted. A new express would depart Accrington for Manchester at 9:45am on Tuesdays & Fridays, and the 9:18 would now include a stop at Baxenden. Another new express would leave Accrington for Southport at 1:55pm and run direct, without having to change. The Thursdays & Saturdays only 11pm Manchester to Blackburn, would now terminate in Accrington. On Sundays the 5:15pm Accrington to Blackburn would now go through to Preston, whilst a new train would depart Preston for Accrington at 6:10pm. April It was announced that a new device had been patented by James Livesey of Blackburn in partnership with Messrs Whitehall and Becconsall of Summerseat, which could be attached to signals and dispense with the need to employ fog-men at times of poor visibility. It was an add-on which would not require any alterations to the existing apparatus. These gentlemen had also patented a new type of signal which required less machinery with which to operate it, and the necessity of having to clean it regularly was also overcome. The Easter traffic saw tickets issued at Accrington as follows on Good Friday - for Liverpool 84, Southport 73, Blackpool 142, Whalley 252, Littleborough (for Hollingworth Lake) 202, Chatburn 60, Gisburn 45, Hellifield 40 and Blackburn 361. On Saturday tickets were issued to Liverpool 43, Southport 15, Blackpool 13, Manchester 109, Haslingden 1,075, Burnley 233, Preston 58 and Blackburn 2,774. The gross number of tickets on Easter Day was 1,498 whilst on Easter Monday the destinations were Liverpool 38, Southport 19, Blackpool 94, Manchester 104, Haslingden 373 and Blackburn 1,470. On Good Friday, 300 employees of the Accrington Branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and their families, held their inaugural tea party at the Town Hall, held in aid of the Widows’ & Orphans’ Fund. The Mayor, Alderman Barlow who presided over the proceedings stated this fund had the highest of ideals, to give aid to the widows and orphans of the employees of the railways who were losing their breadwinners at an average of two each week over the nation’s railways. August On Thursday, the 3 rd , the Accrington Fair began, with a total of 2,018 tickets issued at the Station, with 653 to Blackpool the most popular destination. On Friday an excursion took 300 to Liverpool, whilst Lewis’s excursion went to Blackpool with 360 on board. Ordinary fares booked took the final total to 2,838 of which 97 were to Morecambe and 47 to Douglas, IOM. On Saturday the annual trip to Bangor loaded to 633, whilst Altham’s excursion saw 500 off to Blackpool and the Power Loom Weavers’ Association had 849 passengers on board on the excursion to Liverpool. The number of tickets issued on the day totalled 7,146 of which 63 were for destinations in Scotland. Sunday the number of tickets sold was 1,854 to various destinations and the total for Monday was 3,999, including excursions arranged by The Reform Club to Matlock for 300 passengers and to Blackpool 600 courtesy of Shaw’s. There were several changes to the timetables for trains serving Accrington during the month constituting the winter timetable as follows - The 10:55am and the 2:10pm from Colne to Accrington would run on Mondays and Saturdays only. The 9:24 train from Accrington into Yorkshire would be discontinued. A new express would depart Accrington at 2pm and 6pm, with a journey time of less than one hour. Additional ‘fast’ trains would depart Southport for Accrington at 10am, 12:40pm and 4:45pm. The 6:30am Accrington to Todmorden train would now leave at 6:20am. Other trains which would be discontinued were the 10:15am Accrington to Colne, the 4pm Accrington to Todmorden and the 8pm return. The 2:25 Accrington to Chatburn and the 7:30pm return were also withdrawn.

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