Accrington Viaduct

[STANDISH]

Can anybody explain why there is a speed restriction in place on one part of this viaduct ?

My colleagues yesterday on our train tour said it had been in force for some years.

Many thanks for any local information.

Standish

 

[DarloRich]

Can anybody explain why there is a speed restriction in place on one part of this viaduct ?

My colleagues yesterday on our train tour said it had been in force for some years.

Many thanks for any local information.

Standish

because the structure is unstable in some way?

 

[edwin_m]

There is a nasty reverse curve at the station end of the viaduct where there used to be a junction for the Bury line.

 

[driver9000]

There is a nasty reverse curve at the station end of the viaduct where there used to be a junction for the Bury line.

Correct it's for the curvature of the line. The 10mph PSR is only in force for slightly longer than the length of the curve through the station. This is why it is present for a few yards onto the viaduct.

 

[Aictos]

There is a nasty reverse curve at the station end of the viaduct where there used to be a junction for the Bury line.

Which continued onto Manchester, difficult to believe prior to Beeching Accrington was a major junction station with direct trains to Colne, Leeds, Blackpool North, Blackpool South and Manchester.

 

[edwin_m]

Which continued onto Manchester, difficult to believe prior to Beeching Accrington was a major junction station with direct trains to Colne, Leeds, Blackpool North, Blackpool South and Manchester.

Indeed. If the Manchester via Bury line had survived there would probably have been no need to restore the Todmorden curve!

 

[billio]

Indeed. If the Manchester via Bury line had survived there would probably have been no need to restore the Todmorden curve!

On a Sunday in 1962 it was possible to travel from Accrington to Manchester Victoria in 36 minutes, the journey including 4 stops. Today, Google maps shows a best journey time of 35 minutes using the M66, but with traffic probably considerably more.

On a weekday, trains took about 40 minutes, including 7 stops.

It just shows how Beeching bashed the railways in north Manchester, Rossendale and East Lancashire.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Indeed. If the Manchester via Bury line had survived there would probably have been no need to restore the Todmorden curve!

One must not forget that the Baxenden Bank was not exactly one that would have endeared itself to the locomotive drivers on the run northwards between Haslingden and Accrington.

 

[STANDISH]

Many thanks everybody for the information.

Standish

 

[chorleyjeff]

One must not forget that the Baxenden Bank was not exactly one that would have endeared itself to the locomotive drivers on the run northwards between Haslingden and Accrington.

It was a big problem for L&Y goods/mineral trains with brakes only on the engine, tender and brake van; especially on cold wet early hours when someone had to pin down brakes on wagons. Failure to do so caused at least one major accident at Accrington. But for MUs? They manage OK dropping down from Buxton.

 

[L&Y Robert]

It was a big problem for L&Y goods/mineral trains with brakes only on the engine, tender and brake van; especially on cold wet early hours when someone had to pin down brakes on wagons. Failure to do so caused at least one major accident at Accrington. But for MUs?

MUs didn't perform well on Baxenden bank when they were first introduced on the Colne - Manchester Vic. route. It was my commute route for a couple of years and the "new" diesels experienced adhesion problems on those early dewy mornings, resulting on one occasion coming to a dead stop. I think we were banked out of it - not sure - early 60s. The DMUs were considered "A poor do" by fellow commuters, compared to the standard tank and nice warm cofortable 3-coach set we had been used to. There was always a crowd waiting at Bury, preferring "The steamer" to the ageing L&Y electrics for the run into town (via Clifton Junction, you know!)

 

[Welshman]

My only experience of going up Baxenden Bank was from the front of a Cl.113 dmu. The driver simply selected "forward" from the hydraulic transmission, sat back, and up we went.

Admittedly, it was a dry, summer's day.