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I have for a long time now been trying to both confirm some station heights and the heights of two junctions, not easy when both the stations and the line have long since gone. Normally, I view the 1909 OS map, but yesterday I had a look at some older town map from the 1890's, whilst these only...

Could someone explain to me please just what was a pilot engine during steam days? For example, would they shunt stock around a station or yard? could they be used for banking duties? Thanks, Andy.

How do you interpret the following: "On Friday we had the Sunday school trips, and as a special provision they should start from Padiham station". Now one week before (also a Friday) Col. Hutchinson inspected the section of line from Padiham to Rose Grove (on the East Lancs line) and indicated...

I talked about this briefly a while ago and wanted to re-visit the question of mileages. Looking at the railway data site and comparing the distances with my working timetables from the 1950's and '60s there's a difference of around 11 chains (11 less on the newer mileage). Now I make 11...

I've just been looking again at some old OS maps (1895 & 1909) of the Burnley area, and of course I can see the tram system running along some roads. I was surprised to read that not long after the railway from Padiham to Burnley was opened to passengers (1876) that a tram system was installed...

As we all know, many lines and stations closed in the 1960's, but one date seems to crop up time and time again... 2 November 1964. Could we have a list of: 1. Station closed completely on that date. 2. Station closed to regular passenger services on that date. or 3. Line closed on that date...

I was reading about Major General Hutchinson who was the inspector of railways for the Board of Trade (BOT) from the mid 1860's to around 1895. If you wanted to carry passengers along a new railway line he had to come and inspect the line and conduct tests. If he was happy with everything he...

I was covering the 1911 rail strike recently and came across a mention of "Tourist tickets". These apparently were the cheapest tickets available to get them (the public) to their holiday destinations on the Monday after the strike was over. But what type of ticket were they? I know the clue is...

Can anyone tell me more about the first national rail strike in 1911? I was (as always) browsing through old newspaper headlines for anything connected to my old branch line and came across two articles... One dated Saturday 19th August 1911 stating there had been no trains through Great...

I was just going through some old newspapers regarding my old line and I was surprised by one Derby newspaper. It reported that there was an attempt to wreck a train on the branch line on Saturday evening 16 August 1884. I don't know what happened but the thing is, it's headed "Another attempt...

I've recently found out that one of the public foot bridges on my old line was not one supplied by the L&Y although the design possibly suggests it was. In fact, after years of trying to persuade the L&Y to supply one, the Padiham town council advertised for tenders for it to be built in October...

How high would an average Victorian railway passenger footbridge be? here I'm talking about a typical L&Y iron footbridge that simply connected two platforms at a railway station. The footbridge in question is just beyond the ends of the platforms if that helps. I'm curious to know as a workman...

Sometime around the 1780's Dunkirk colliery (not to be confused with the one in Manchester) was opened near the village of Read to mine coal. The 1840's map shows a tram road running West from the colliery to a coal saithe, when the L&Y build the North Lancs loop line they had to accommodate...

This year I have been updating the list of bridges on my old line, however this morning I came across a surprise. What I thought was one of the bridges actually looks like an informal level crossing, a photograph of a stone inlaid in one of the railway walls next to a caravan park at Bridge Hey...

It's mentioned in one of my books regarding the building of my branch line that Mr Stone (who won the contract to build most of it) had a problem as there was a shortage of available labour. The year was 1870 when the construction began. What would have caused a shortage of labour in 1870? was...

Not too long ago I opened a topic regarding bridge removal, now I'd like to look at the other side of things, that is how Victorian cast iron bridges were made and constructed. If we look at these photos of one bridge being removed you can see the individual components that went into its...

I was sent a photo yesterday from around 1970 showing the remains of a former bridge site on my old branch which has sparked some general bridge removal questions, which hopefully will apply to most railway lines. I'm told that by June (or sometime in June) 1968 all the railway bridges that...

How likely do you think a railway goods shed could survive for fourteen years? I've covered most of my old branch line's details (and probably bored a lot of people in the process!) but there is still one mystery that's puzzled me for a long time now - the demolition date of Padiham's goods...

I'm curious about one observation I made a few years ago, I'm not focusing on my old branch line this time but on it all the main station buildings for all three stations were adjacent to the down line for East bound trains (for various reasons). Are there other examples around the country...

I've wondered for some time now about private sidings. This subject (for me at least) covers several periods of time and locations, but I'm quite sure they were repeated all over the country at some point. The locations are Padiham gas works, the power station there, Huncoat power station...