About Side Tracked
We have Motorway Mayhem. We have A-Road Anarchy (cos there aren’t many Motorways in Wales!). But what about public transport users? SideTracked Caches are intended to provide quick Cache-and-dashes at Train Stations.
PLEASE be aware this is a HIGH muggle area. Please replace as found and try not to draw attention to yourself. There is ample parking close to the cache site. There is no need to enter the platform or rail property to locate the cache. Bring your own pen!
History
Blackburn’s first station was built by Stone and Nephew who were awarded the contract to build the station for the East Lancashire Railway Company on 14th November 1845. The station was described in the Blackburn Standard as a building of two storeys flanked by two wings and with a facade in the Italian style of architecture.
The Blackburn, Darwen and Bolton Railway Company built a second Blackburn station off Bolton Road which opened in 1848. The Blackburn Company amalgamated with the East Lancashire Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on the 1st January 1858 and around this date the Bolton Road station closed, all work being transferred to the former East Lancs station. In 1860/61 the station was enlarged to cope with increasing passenger and freight traffic. Following a major accident in 1881 it was decided to re build and enlarge the station.
The accident which happened involved an L&YR 0-4-4T no 74 and 0-6-0 no 682 ‘Vesuvius’ which collided in the station killing eight people and which was one of the L&YR’s worst accidents. After this disaster the L&YR engineer Hunt drew up plans for a new station in November 1883 and on 18th February 1885 Robert Neill and Sons were awarded the contract to build it. Work commenced on the 2nd June 1885 and part of the station opened for use on 12th September 1886. The station opened fully on the 28th March 1888. The main booking hall was 77 feet long and 70 feet wide and entrance to the platforms was by subway and inclined ramps.
Blackburn station has always dealt with freight traffic initially for the local cotton mills and engineering works and it also had its own fish dock. By 1904 the station was listed as dealing with passengers, goods, parcels, furniture vans, live stock, horse boxes and prize cattle vans. Several local companies had private sidings. Ten ton cranes were to be found at Blackburn goods yard with a forty ton crane at Daisyfield sidings.
In 2000, due to its decaying state, the station underwent a £5 million regeneration project. A new building was built on the main island platform. The Grade II listed original entrance built in the 1880s, including the station buffet and former booking hall, was retained and refurbished. A piece of public artwork by artist Stephen Charnock was also erected at the edge of the platform, which consists of a stainless steel screen depicting Blackburn's industrial past and its more modern life today. The images include some of Blackburn's most famous and successful figures such as Carl Fogarty, Wayne Hemingway and Jack Walker.
The station won the London Underground Award for best restored station.