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The Stoke to Market Drayton Line was a railway line that ran through Staffordshire and Shropshire that was built by the North Staffordshire Railway.[ citation needed ]
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The Stoke to Market Drayton Line was a railway line that ran through Staffordshire and Shropshire that was built by the North Staffordshire Railway.[ citation needed ]
| Silverdale and Newcastle Railway Act 1859 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to authorize the Maintenance and Use of the Silverdale and Newcastle-under-Lyme Railway, and the Use of the Extension Railway to the Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal, and for other Purposes. |
| Citation | 22 & 23 Vict. c. cxiv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 13 August 1859 |
| Silverdale and Newcastle Railway Act 1860 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Citation | 23 & 24 Vict. c. iii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 March 1860 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| North Staffordshire Railway Branches Act 1864 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to authorize the Construction of Railways from the Silverdale and Newcastle Railway at Wolstanton to the Old Manor House at Madeley, and thence to the Nantwich and Market Drayton and London and North-western Railways; and for other Purposes. |
| Citation | 27 & 28 Vict. c. cccix |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 29 July 1864 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The first part of the line to be built required the private Silverdale and Newcastle Railway, built in 1850 by ironmaster Ralph Sneyd, to become public. This was enabled by the Silverdale and Newcastle Railway Act 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. cxiv) and passenger services from Stoke to Newcastle began in 1862. Silverdale was reached in May 1863. [1]
Meanwhile, the Great Western Railway was planning to reach Manchester and in an effort to block this, the Market Drayton extension was completed in February 1870. [1]
The early years of the 20th century were the busiest, there being thirteen trains daily from Stoke to Silverdale and five to Market Drayton. [2]
Railmotor services began in 1905 and several new halts were built. Running from Silverdale as far as Trentham, they were intended to compete with trams and were somewhat successful in this respect, although they only lasted until 1926. [1]
The section between Silverdale and Pipe Gate was reduced to single track in October 1934. [1]
Dwindling passenger numbers after World War II meant that there were only two trains daily from Stoke to Market Drayton, and services ceased on 7 May 1956 when they were cut back to Silverdale. [1] Passenger services to the latter ceased in 1964, a casualty of the Beeching Axe.
Express Dairies had a creamery with private siding access to Pipe Gate, allowing its preferred transport partner the GWR to provide milk trains to the facility, for onward scheduling to London.
Following nationalisation there was a very considerable increase in freight traffic on this route reaching a peak of 10,000 tons weekly in 1962–63. [1]
In 1962 a new "chord" line was opened at Madeley to provide a connection to the West Coast Main Line. This was used as a diversionary route when the Harecastle diversion line was being constructed and continued in use for freight workings once the latter was completed.
After closure of the creamery at Pipe Gate, the route between Market Drayton and Madeley Chord closed for good in 1966. [2] That same year, the line between Newcastle Junction (Stoke) and Brampton Sidings was closed and the junction severed in preparation for the West Coast Main Line electrification. [3] The Pool Dam branch survived until 7 October 1967. [1]
The last traffic on the line was coal from Apedale and Silverdale collieries, which ceased in December 1998 when the latter was closed.
As of 2020 [update] , the line remains extant but out of use between Newcastle and just west of Madeley Road station. The line is also extant from Silverdale Tunnel, and now a public footpath runs along the line, from its start in Stoke-on-Trent (Cockshot Lock/Newcastle Junction) to as far as Silverdale station.
The station at Norton-in-Hales is the only station still standing on the former route, as a private residence. The station site at Newcastle-Under-Lyme has been landscaped, and Market Drayton's has been demolished and built on by both a Morrisons store and an industrial complex.
In 2009 the platforms at Silverdale were cleared of vegetation and the derelict track from the former station site to the tunnel portal was lifted but the track remains intact between Silverdale and Pipe Gate via Keele and Madeley Road.
In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line between Stoke and Wellington which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments). [4]
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. In 2021 the population was 75,082.
Woore is a village and civil parish in the north east of Shropshire, England. The population of the village as recorded in the 2011 census is 633, and for the civil parish is 1,069. The civil parish extends to about 3,950 acres.
The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.
The English county of Shropshire has a fairly large railway network, with 19 National Rail stations on various national lines; there are also a small number of heritage and freight lines, including the famous heritage Severn Valley Railway running along its eastern border with Worcestershire.
Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 road from Newcastle to Market Drayton and Shrewsbury. The village is the location of Keele University and Keele Services, a motorway service area on the M6.
The Minsterley branch was a short railway line that ran from Cruckmeole Junction on the Cambrian Line just south of Shrewsbury to Minsterley in Shropshire. The six-and-a-half mile standard gauge line was the only section built of a plan to connect Shrewsbury with mid Wales. It was part of a joint venture between the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies.
Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.
The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway was authorised by an act of Parliament on 29 July 1862, to build a line between the towns of Stafford and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, England. It opened for traffic in 1867. It opened on 23 December 1867. Construction cost had much exceeded estimates, and income was poor, so that the company was always in financial difficulty. It was placed in receivership in 1875. The Great Northern Railway (GNR) had running powers to Uttoxeter and was persuaded to acquire the company, which it did in 1881. The GNR spent a considerable sum on improving the line, but it never made money and it was closed to passengers on 4 December 1939. Goods traffic ceased in 1951, except for a short stub to RAF Stafford; this too closed in 1975.
Madeley is a village and ward in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, North Staffordshire, England. It is split into three parts: Madeley, Middle Madeley, and Little Madeley. Madeley Heath is also considered by many to be part of Madeley. In the 2001 census, the population was recorded as 4,386, decreasing to 4,222 at the 2011 Census.
Baldwin's Gate is a village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire. The population details for the 2011 census can be found under Whitmore. There is a pub in the centre of the village called The Sheet Anchor, along with a Post Office & General Store, a primary school and another small shop with a petrol station. There is also a Methodist church and just outside the village is Slater's Country Inn.
Whitmore was a station serving the village of Whitmore, Staffordshire.
The Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway was a standard gauge railway line which began as a single line branch in the early 1860s and rapidly became part of the Great Western Railway's (GWR) double track Wellington to Nantwich Railway, which had through trains to Crewe. It carried through freight and local passenger traffic until its closure in the 1960s. Market Drayton was renowned for the manufacture of gingerbread, hence the line acquired the nickname the "Gingerbread Line".
The Wellington and Drayton Railway was a standard gauge line in Central England which carried through freight and local passenger traffic until closure in the 1960s. It was part of the Great Western Railway's double track Wellington-Crewe line, linking the Midlands to the north and northwest.
Pipe Gate was a railway station on the North Staffordshire Railway's Stoke to Market Drayton Line.
Madeley Road railway station is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England.
Keele railway station is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England.
Market Drayton railway station served the town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, England, between 1863 and 1963. It was at the junction where three railway lines met: two of them, forming the Great Western Railway route between Wellington and Crewe, were met by a line from Stoke-on-Trent on the North Staffordshire Railway.
Halmerend railway station is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England.
Leycett railway station is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England.
The Wellington to Nantwich Railway was a railway line that ran from the Wellington to Nantwich via Market Drayton. The line closed in 1967 to all traffic and the track was dismantled in 1970. The line also connected to the former Stoke-Market Drayton Line at Market Drayton which was a junction station for the line until the closure to Madeley Chord in 1956.