In Bury, the train was extended to about 30 carriages and three engines, and more passengers were collected before the train finished its journey in Rawtenstall. Passengers were provided with a large meal in a closed-off section of a power-loom shed owned by John Robinson Kay. They listened to several celebratory speeches, before re-embarking the train to head home. The railway was opened to the general public on the following Monday. In November 1846 the company submitted proposals for a new line from Buckley Wells (south of Bury) through Whitefield and Prestwich, to a new terminus at Victoria Station. The plan did not progress any further than the initial planning stages; Whitefield and Prestwich eventually got their own railway stations in 1879. In two years the ELR grew from a company authorised to build of railway into one with the authority to build of railway. In February 1848 with of track open, the company reported for the week ending 5 February 1848 an annual income of £553 18s 8d (£ in ) for passengers and parcels, and £498 10s 4d for freight (£ in ) – almost double the previous year's income. By March 1848 the line between Rawtenstall and Newchurch was complete, followed in June by the Blackburn to Accrington connection (), and, in August, the Stubbins junction to Accrington section. The line was extended east to Burnley () by September 1848, and, in February 1849, from Burnley to Colne, where it made an end-on junction with the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway, providing the ELR with a connection to Bradford and Leeds. The LO&PR line to Lostock Hall () was completed on 2 April 1849, and the () extension into Preston station opened on 2 September 1850. The line ran into new platforms built on the east side of the NUR's station, which were managed and staffed by the ELR, and which had their own booking hall and entrance. The new platforms were effectively a separate station. More lines followed with a connection between Newchurch and Bacup by October 1852, and the Ormskirk to Rainford Skelmersdale Branch in March 1858. A three-mile long line to Tottington opened in 1882 from a junction with the original MB&BR line. It was electrified in 1913 before reverting to steam in 1951. It closed to passengers in 1952 and goods in 1963 and has since been reclaimed as a walkway. Clifton Junction