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