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Lancashire

A Railwayman's View - BR Midland Region by Peter Collins > Lancashire
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Images 1-7 of 7 displayed.

LPPC DSL BW 0560 The end of the line, but it hadn’t always been this way. This is Colne station platform with a train just arrived from Preston formed of a Class 105 Cravens power twin DMU. At one time early in their careers, DMUs were derided as totally lacking in interest, but as time moved on the sheer variety of them throughout the UK generated its own band of enthusiasts. These 105s were unique in that both of the two cars were powered to cope with the gradients found in the north-west of England. The view ahead shows, curving away to the left, the track bed of where the line used to run before another of the many short-term and pointless closures in the vain expectation of saving some money took place. Until February 1970, the route continued for a further 11.5miles to the large town of Skipton, thus providing a useful through line from Blackburn via Accrington. So short-sighted was this decision that many houses have since been built in the area and there is a growing demand to reopen the route to relieve the inevitable road congestion that has arisen.
LPPC DSL BW 1148 A quiet moment late one morning in July 1975 on the West Coast Main Line at Lancaster station. The lull between passing West Coast Inter City traffic is filled by the sound of a member of station staff singing Can’t Give You Anything by the Stylistics which was heading to number one at the time and a tank wagon train hurrying through, probably from nearby Heysham, passing on the up fast line headed by an English Electric Type 4 Class 40. In the bay on the far left is the DMU which ran in connection with Inter-City expresses for passengers to Morecambe, where once was the early overhead electric service to Heysham Harbour.
LPPC DSL BW 0950 Mid-morning at Preston and all was quiet until this Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company single-car Class 128 motor parcels unit ran quietly into a down platform usually used by these sorts of services judging by the Brutes and trolleys piled high with traffic. Originally there were ten of them built, mainly for use on the Western Region and these were fitted with through corridor connections at both ends of the units. The remainder were allocated to the LMR and did not have these additions. They were finished in BR DMU green, but by this time this vehicle is in branded Royal Mail red.
LPPC DSL BW 0941 Compared to some of shots and locations in this book this should almost have the title ‘Brave New World’ as an up WCML Inter City express on the left, which may be a semi-fast working as it is not formed fully of air-conditioned Mk2d stock, meets a down example with this consist as the latter approaches Preston station from the south. Almost an abstract picture perhaps? There is possibly a feeling of it being the basis of a Terence Cuneo ‘The Railway of the Future’ painting.
LPPC DSL BW 0676 Blackpool – where else? – on a cool evening in late September. We had arrived earlier in the day behind an English Electric Type 4 Class 40 and hoped we would enjoy the same on our journey back south but having arrived at the station after a convivial afternoon/evening ‘on the town’ this is what we found making up the last though service to Crewe; nothing more than a rather run-down Met Cam DMU and at 23 00 at night. Amazingly the driver left the cab blind on the second man’s side open so we bounced and lurched our way up the West Coast main line with a fascinating and completely different view from usual. Small compensation!
LPPC DSL BW 0951 One of the powerful Cravens-built 2-car DMUs of Class 105, which boasted both cars being powered to deal with Pennine gradients, heads away south from Preston station, trailing exhaust smoke, with a train for Colne which was, by this time, the terminus of a line which originally ran through to Skipton. It was reached via Blackburn, Accrington and Rose Grove the latter being the famous steam MPD that lasted until the very end of that era. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 0561 A busy moment at Blackburn station one summer’s morning as two Sulzer Type 2 Class 25s clank to a stop with possibly number 5157 being the nearest loco. They are heading a block train of cement from Horrocksford Works towards Preston. Approaching in the right background is a two-car Cravens DMU working a Preston to Colne stopping service whilst the Derby-built two-car on the right is waiting time until departing on an all-stations trip to Bolton and possibly beyond to Manchester Victoria. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock

Images 1-7 of 7 displayed.