Free Exhibition of West Lancs Line Paintings

At the Market Square, Preston on Mon-Weds 10.00 - 15.00 on 3rd, 4th and 5th September.

The Paintings are by a local painter John Matthews and feature scenes including the cold West Lancs Line to Southport (closed 1964, but not forgotten!).

Virgin Support E-Petition

Many in the rail industry believe that Virgin's bid was the responsible, deliverable one and that First Group will not be able to make the promised payments in the longer term. It is suggested that in the shorter term, they will cut staff and levels of service and undo the progress which has been made during Virgin's tenure. The concern is that the WCML franchise will fail, just as it did on the East Coast route, in the meantime, jobs and passengers could be lost.

From an enthusiast's point of view, it seems almost certain that under First, Preston will no longer be an open station, with ticket barriers being installed.

If you feel that the decision to award the WCML franchise to First Group is a bad one, please consider signing the e-petition, which urges the government to reconsider.

http://virg.co/supportvt (hold down Ctrl and click)

The e-petition has been organised by Virgin staff, rather than the company itself. They hope to get 100,000 people to sign by 28/08/12.

New Whittingham Hospital Rly Book

David Hindle's well-received 2010 book "All Stations to Longridge" is to be joined by a new book from the same author, covering the fascinating Whittingham Hospital Railway.

'In commemoration of Preston Guild, 2012, David Hindle takes a journey into history to explore the social, cultural and economic background to Preston during the Industrial Revolution, primarily to see if Preston lived up to the affectionate claim to be the ‘good old days'
David Hindle's extensive research suggests that the level of squalor, prostitution, pauperism and unwanted pregnancies contributed to poor health and the need for the penniless and mentally ill to be fully institutionalised in the established workhouse or the new asylums such as Whittingham, which was served by its own private railway.

This book is an altogether fascinating insight into the social history of Preston linked with a Victorian anochronism, 'The Whittingham Hospital Railway. '

Virgin Loses WCML Franchise

As had been widely speculated, First Group has been selected to take over the West Coast Main Line franchise instead of Virgin.

First Group's bid was substantially higher than that from incumbent, resulting in higher payments back to the Treasury. However, industry insiders and Virgin themselves have voiced fears that the bid is unsustainable. In a statement, Virgin boss Richard Branson said "We did not want to risk letting everybody down with almost certain bankruptcy at some time during the franchise, as happened to GNER and National Express who overbid on the East Coast mainline,"

Other than worries over First Group's ability to deliver on their promise, the concern is that there will have to be a substantial lowering of service standards and heavy job-losses. This news comes on the back of yesterday's announcement that rail fares in general will rise by over 6% early in 2013.

Perhaps in a bid to sweeten the pill, today's announcement includes news of the intention to add to the existing services, with direct trains to London from Blackpool and Bolton, and a strengthening of the service between London and Preston.

Prototype DELTIC extended stay.

Originally planned as just a short stay for the Guild, it now looks like DELTIC will remain at the Ribble Steam Railway for much longer. With the NRM needing to find space for six LNER A4s, including two being repatriated from North America, they will be more than happy for groups like the RSR to borrow an exhibit or two.

At present, it looks like the Preston-built DELTIC will remain in the city for as long as a year. Hopefully, this will allow for some imaginative photo-opportunities, as long as the NRM don't insist on it remaining in the museum building throughout its stay.

Click on the Photo of the Day link (above) for photos of DELTIC's journey back to Preston.

Interesting DELTIC fact : One of the first test-runs of the Deltic prototype was from Preston to Grimsargh, on the old Longridge Branch. It reportedly travelled up the branch under cover of darkness and remained in the sidings at Grimsargh over-night. No photos of this have come to light (unless you know better!)

DELTIC en-route

The DELTIC prototype, built at the Dick Kerr works in Preston, is on its way back to its birthplace... The unique EE machine will reach the Ribble Steam Railway this afternoon, travelling by road from the NRM's Shildon outpost.

See the Photo of the Day gallery for a shot of the locomotive at Tebay.

Reunion Specials at RSR

The Ribble Steam Railway (RSR) is to hold a 'Guild Reunion' event over the weekend of 4th & 5th August, featuring the first visit preservation-era visit of a London Midland region locomotive to the dockside line.

With 2012 Guild year once again, the RSR hopes to reunite a number of old faces from the twilight of the steam era in Preston.

Star of the show will be 'Jinty' No. 47472, which was the Preston station pilot for the bulk of the 1950s and 1960s. This locomotive seemed to be a permanent fixture in the busy station environs, and was thus dubbed 'City of Preston' by a generation of spotters. With the original locomotive sadly having been scrapped in 1967, classmate No. 47406 will be specially renumbered and provided with an appropriate 10B (Preston) shedplate for one weekend only.

Double book-launch - ‘The London & North Western Railway around Preston’ Bob Gregson's companion to the sell-out ‘The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway around Preston’. ‘The Railways of Preston – Half a Century of Change’ from RSR volunteer Andy Fowler. Both Authors will be on-hand.
More info : www.ribblesteam.org.uk/

A photo charter featuring No. 47472 is also planned to take place during the locomotive’s stay in Preston. This is being organised by 30742 Charters, and full details can be obtained by e-mailing Mail.30742@btinternet.com.
The cost of the full-day photo-charter event will be £35.
More info : www.ribblesteam.org.uk/