Railways in Staffordshire

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The railways in Staffordshire (UK) have a long history.

1 The decline of the railways
2 References
3 External links
4 Related Topic

[edit] The decline of the railways

Due to Wedgewood's pottery being moved increasingly by road transport, and both the decline in mining, qarrying and farming in general, several once-busy stations were shut down. Staffordshire's railways were reduced by the Beeching report in the 1960s, and several stations, like Uttoxeter and Norton Bridge passinger station, only narrowly missed closure.

Cold Meece works - Closed by 1900.
Keele and Norton Bridge freight station- Closed by 1955.
Great Bridgeford, Whitmore, Black Bull and Standon moor - Freight-only by 1955 and closed by 1970.
Littelton colliery, Nettel park and Hume end - Closed by 1946.
Madeley- Freight-only by 1955 and closed by 2000.
Trentham Gardens - Opened by 1946, freight-only by 1970 and closed by 2000.
Leek, Cheadle, Oakamoor, Froghall, Silverdale and Brownhills - All freight - only by 1970 and closed by 2000.
Caldon Lowe - Station closed by 1946. A quarry-worker's halt was opened by 1970, but – like the quarry itself – closed by 2000.
Trentham colliery - Closed by 2000.
Florence colliery - Opened by 1970 and closed by 2000.
Stafford common - The station had closed by 1946 and the goods department closed by 2000.
Kingsley and Frognal goods depot, Alton (Alton towers), Consall and Arewas - All closed by 1970.
Stone, Barlaston and Titensor, Norton Bridge and Wedgwood last saw rail services in 2003, but Stone may re-open in its own right due to heavy local campaigning.
Etruria, no longer used by local workers, closed in 2005.

The collieries handle mostly freight along with a few workers' trains. Stoke-on-Trent's goods yard had closed by 2000 due to increased competition from road haulage.

A steam preservation movement has saved Cheddleton, Consall and Froghall stations along with the track running between them. At Rudyard a narrow gauge railway is operated by the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway.

At both Brownhills, Oakamoor, Caldon Lowe and Whitmore the lines are over-grown and/or the stations neglected; but they may re-open for freight trains or for use by railway enthusiasts.

[edit] References

Ian Alan books - British railways atlas 1947, Complete atlas of railway station names (UK, 2002 edition)
Rail Atlas 1970
British railway atlas 1955.
A few recent newspaper articles.