The 1848 Notice for a Bill in 1849 as printed in the London Gazette (20920) 25 November 1848 page 4368 has this in what seems to be the relevant paragraph:
"A branch railway commencing by a junction with the East Lancashire Railway, at or near the south-western entrance of the Gannow Tunnel of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, near the town of Burnley, in the township of Habergham Eaves, otherwise Burnley-cum-Habergham Eaves, in the parish of Whalley, and passing thence through the same township, and the township of Padiham, in the said parish of Whalley, and terminating on the
eastern side of the turnpike road leading from Padiham to Burnley, near to the National School, in the town or village of Padiham, in the said township of Padiham; and also to authorize the alteration described in the plans hereinafter referred to, in the works authorized by "The Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston Railway Act, 1846," in the townships of Ormskirk and Bickerstaffe, both in the parish of Ormskirk, and in the township and parish of Aughton, and an alteration likewise so described in the works authorized by "The East Lancashire Railway Act, 1845," in the township of Reedley Hallows, otherwise Reedly Hollows, New Laund Booth, and Filley Close, in the parish of Whalley, all which railways, alterations, send works will be situate in the county palatine of Lancaster."
So this is proposing both a branch to Padiham and a deviation in a line authorised by an 1845 Act. The Act in question appears to be 8&9 Victoria cap. xxxv, An Act for extending the Manchester, Bury,
and Rossendale Railway to the Towns of Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, and Colne. This authorised:
"15. That the said railway shall commence by a junction with the intended Manchester, Bury, and Rossendale railway in the township of Tottington Higher End in the parish of Bury, and shall pass through the following
places; (that is to say,) Tottington Higher End, Musbury, Bury, Haslingden, Lower Booths, Hen Heads, New Accrington, Old Accrington, and Whalley, or some of them, all in the county palatine of Lancaster, to or near
to the town or village of Accrington in the said county; and thence by means of two diverging lines of railway, the one passing through or into the following places, New Accrington, Old Accrington, Church, Oswaldtwistle,
Whalley, Rishton, Little Harwood, and Blackburn, or some of them, and terminating at or near the town of Blackburn, in the township and parish of Blackburn in the said county, either by a distinct terminus, or by a junction
with the intended Blackburn and Preston railway; and the other of such diverging lines passing through the following places, (that is to say,) New Accrington, Old Accrington, Huncoat, Hapton, Habergham Eaves, Burnley, Reedley-Hallows otherwise Reedley-Hollows, New Laund Booth, Filley Close, Marsden otherwise Great and Little Marsden otherwise Great Marsden and Little Marsden, Colne, and Whalley, or some of them; and shall terminate in the township of Colne at or near the town of Colne in the said county; and the said branch railway shall commence by a junction with the said last-named diverging line of railway in the said township of Habergham Eaves in the said parish of Whalley, and being wholly situate in such last-mentioned township shall terminate at or near the said town of Burnley; and a connecting line of railway between the said two diverging lines shall commence and terminate and be situate wholly in the said township of Old Accrington in the said parish of Whalley."
The description of the locations will mean far more to you than to me. But it does look as if they were going for a Padiham branch as such in the 1849 session whilst in the same Bill seeking deviation powers for a different line authorised in 1845, i.e. no clash.
