ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN... the train company now departing...is Virgin. They have announced that all of their services to Birmingham International, and the only through train to London Euston (which we already knew about - Ed), will be withdrawn in May. Virgin's timing is absolutely immaculate. Which other train operating company would introduce a brand new timetable in late September (by which time the peak holiday traffic has already disappeared), and then expect to attract hordes of passengers in the middle of winter. Virgin claim that the services don't attract enough passengers, but it's hardly surprising when the Golden Mile is practically devoid of any visitors in January, and there's a wind chill factor of minus four degrees Celsius !

We never had to put up with anything like this in the 'bad old days' of British Rail. To put it into perspective, Virgin have treated the town of Blackpool, and its rail users, very shabbily indeed and it remains a mystery to me how Virgin have been allowed to pull the plug, on an entire timetable, so easily.

Let's look at the facts. We've already mentioned that the Blackpool North to Birmingham International timetable was introduced, with a lot of media coverage, in late September. It should have been extended to Plymouth, but after a lot of huffing and puffing, Virgin decided at the eleventh hour that it couldn't be done due to insufficient paths south of Birmingham. It struck me that this was highly unprofessional. To have spent so much time creating a timetable which covered many other destinations, only to find that it couldn't be done, really beggared belief. Surely, one of the first things you do is to check on how many trains other TOC's are running in the area where you also want to operate, and then decide whether it is a feasible thing to do.

The announcement came as a body blow to Blackpool. Just as the town was sorting out a regeneration package, and having very good train services helps enormously, this sort of thing will not assist their cause. Certainly, Virgin have not given the timetable sufficient time to settle down, and for train users to get used to the fact that they don't have to change at Preston. They would have been far better introducing the new services in May, and would have benefitted from greater receipts from holiday traffic. All of these changes were to be found under Virgin's much vaunted title 'Operation Princess' - I'm sorry to say that things have turned sour and it's more like 'Operation Worthless'.

So from May, we'll be down to two train operating companies, First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern, with apologies to those two organisations, but I don't think two is enough for an important seaside resort like Blackpool. Slightly tongue in cheek, I did ask FNW whether they had any spare rolling stock to run a service from Blackpool to Birmingham, but of course numbers of suitable carriages are very thin on the ground, so they declined very politely. However, if you don't ask, you don't get !

As for Virgin, it has to be wondered if they will ever run trains into Blackpool again. If they chop and change their minds over everything else, the town would probably be better off without them. It just seems a great shame that for destinations apart from Manchester, Scarborough, Colne and Liverpool, it'll be a case of having to change at that draughty Preston station again.

Next time you're on a train passing Kirkham North Junction signalbox, just look up and wish it a Happy Birthday. The old girl is one hundred years old this year, and still going strong. Long may it continue !

The 'box, which opened on 1903, had 75 levers which was split into two halves, each worked by two signalmen and a train recorder. Certainly, in the 1930's the amount of traffic generated by Blackpool, was enormous. To illustrate this, on July the 18^th, 1936 the signalbox handled 656 train movements within a twenty four hour period.

It seems strange that the railways in the 21^st century consider themselves to be running at maximum capacity, and the only way to handle that is to withdraw services, rather than increase them. Perhaps train operating companies (Virgin in particular) should look back and reflect on how the railways used to cope with all that traffic.

NEW MEMBER
The association gives a very warm welcome to our latest recruits:-

Mr.J.Holt - Thornton Cleveleys
Mr.S.Brookes MBE - Bispham

ANY VOLUNTEERS?

Do you fancy getting your hands dirty, or being a booking clerk, or working in the souvenir shop. Well, if you do, the West Lancashire Light Railway is looking for volunteers.

The narrow gauge railway is situated at Hesketh Bank, just off the A59, and operating days are Sundays, April to October, and Bank Holiday Saturdays when locomotives are in steam. Should you decide to volunteer, the railway intends to hold a New Volunteers Days in April.

Incidentally, ladies do drive engines, do work as a fireman (or fireperson – Ed), and do work as a guard !

For further information, please ring Peter Knowles on 01704 893099.

Prospective operators of the new Northern rail franchise have until February 17th to submit completed 'expressions of interest' to the Strategic Rail Authority.

The SRA fired the starting gun once more on the 17th of December, for the heavily delayed race for the franchise that will see parts of the existing First North Western and Arrive Trains Northern operations merged.

Last February the SRA said it was starting formal consultations with the passenger transport executives, with all seven having interests in the new franchise. At that time it was planned that the franchise would last for fifteen years - now its duration will be between five and seven years. At the same time, the SRA said it expected to announce the pre - qualifiers by March for the franchise to start in early 2003. Now the pre - qualifiers will be announced in March 2003 and the franchise is to start in summer 2004. The SRA is looking for the Northern franchise to provide passengers with better urban and rural services, and they are expecting a keen interest from bidders.

It’s ticking over very nicely, thank you. The association’s website is updated regularly, in fact new items were put on just a week or two ago, we’ve now had over 1800 visitors logging on. Not a massive amount by any stretch of the imagination, but it does mean that a lot more people are now aware of our existence.

The site is in the safe keeping of our computer expert, Mike Whittaker, it is something that we are justifiably very proud of.

Don’t panic, it’s not Blackpool Tower the structure, which is as safe as houses. However, the same can’t be said about the Class 37 diesel locomotive that bears the same name. 37 407 Blackpool Tower had been withdrawn from traffic and put in store at Crewe diesel depot a couple of years ago. It had amassed over 8000 engine hours (the equivalent in a car is its mileage –Ed), which meant that it was due for a major overhaul. However, its owners, freight company EWS, decided that as they had taken delivery of brand new engines from North America, that it would not be economically viable to put the Class 37 through works.

It was therefore despatched to Wigan CRDC (component recovery and distribution centre) for scrapping. The locomotive’s only salvation may be a preservation society who might be looking for a useful engine. It is a bit of a mystery why it should be sent for disposal, as it is a Class 37/4 variant. This means that it is capable of providing electric train heating for carriages (it has been seen hauling the Manchester club train in Blackpool North in the past), and it also hauled ballast trains along the Blackpool South branch when the line was being completely relaid.

It would be sad to see yet another piece of railway that has local connections, disappear for good.

Planning rules which allowed the initial set - up of Freeport have changed since then. Freeport enterprise is willing to invest £200,000 in the tramway scheme. The enquiry will continue to allow Q.C.'s to discuss the merits of the application in respect of the Secretary's questions, and the Inspector will make visits alone, and accompanied, to the site. It is already plain that much discussion will be based on 'is Freeport in the town centre?' The eventual decision from the Secretary of State will be some time yet.

Yet again, the membership has risen to the cause by ‘voting with their money’. The association has been very fortunate in having a very supportive membership, and this has been reflected in the number of renewals, together with a staggering amount of donations, which have been very generous.

Other rail user groups look on with envy when they see that our membership fee has remained constant for twenty one years, which must be some kind of record. The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support. The next twelve months promises to very interesting, not necessarily for all the right reasons!

A SUNDAY OUT

After their winter break, Blackpool South services resumed in late February. The weather then was mild and almost dry, so we decided to visit the East Lancashire Railway, to view and travel behind steam engines. Starting from St. Annes, we bought a ticket on the train to get us to the boundary of the ‘Wayfarer’ ticket for the Manchester region (with a companion, the ‘Duo’ ticket to Manchester could be an alternative). The ‘Wayfarer’, which can be bought by individuals, pairs or families, gives access to buses, trams and trains in the region; we chose to go to Bury from Manchester Piccadilly by tram. (Another way could have been by bus from Bolton direct to Bury).

When lunchtime beckoned, we chose the "Good Samaritan", ** about 500 yards from Ramsbottom station, but other facilities nearby could also have provided meals and drinks (whether alcohol or not). Similarly, Bury town and Bolton Street station ** offer refreshment facilities. Our return home later in the day, for variety, was by bus from Bury to Manchester, then Piccadilly to Preston. Although the café/bar on the station had recently been moved, we sought an early evening drink at Hartley’s Wine Bar ** (Mount Street, near the station) and then back for the train home. All venues marked ** serve both coffee and ‘Real Ale’, as well as meals at certain times.

The first train from St. Annes on a Sunday is at 09.48 (so no early breakfast is required) and the last one gets back at 21.07, so a leisurely day can be had, with opportunity to stay in dry places if the weather should break. So you see, trains don’t have to be commuter – crowded, and from the coast, we are usually traveling in the opposite direction to the holiday travelers.

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Revised: 05, January 2005