Toggle navigation
News
Latest
Queries
Articles
Slideshows
On this day
Locations
Companies
Contributors
Maps
Slideshows
On this day
Locations
Companies
Maps
More
Queries
Articles
Slideshows
On this day
Locations
Companies
Contributors
Maps
North Staffordshire Railway
All photographs of this railway in date order.
![Trains pass at Consall Station.<br><br>[Neville Davies //]](/images/4000/4175.jpg "Consall")
![Trains pass at Consall Station and are reflected in the water.<br><br>[Neville Davies //]](/images/4000/4177.jpg "Consall")
![Steam train is reflected in the water at Consall Station.<br><br>[Neville Davies //]](/images/4000/4178.jpg "Consall")
![BR Standard class 4 4-6-0 no 75047 photographed at Stoke shed (5D) in the 1960s. The locomotive was withdrawn from here in August 1967, the same month Stoke shed closed to steam.<br><br>[K A Gray //]](/images/42000/42429.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![Crab 2-6-0 no 42925 stands in the shed yard at Stoke-on-Trent in October 1961.<br><br>[K A Gray 01/10/1961]](/images/39000/39050.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![Locomotives in the shed yard at Stoke-on-Trent (5D) on 1 October 1961. Locally based Fowler 4F 0-6-0 no 44499 stands nearest the camera.<br><br>[K A Gray 01/10/1961]](/images/42000/42275.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![<I>Beeching's hidden policy?</I> Many 1960s railwaymen said their lines were deliberately run down to prove the case for closure and Leek to Uttoxeter must have been one of them. By 1964 Leek was a branch terminus rather than a junction and the 1964 timetable extract shows the meagre service AND also the ludicrous situation where both the morning and evening trains crossed at Kingsley but ran ECS in the other direction. The operating costs in relation to passenger usage would have been very high and sure enough the line closed soon after although part of it is now preserved. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 07/09/1964]](/images/24000/24778.jpg "Plates, signs and notices")
![48012 stands below the coaling plant at Stoke-on-Trent shed (5D) around 1965.<br>
<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1965]](/images/27000/27873.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![A crowded Stoke-on-Trent shed in 1965 with 75006 and 48131 nearest the camera. Latterly coded 5D, Stoke shed had an allocation of over 80 steam locomotives at this time. Hard to believe that just two years later the shed had closed and the site was in the process of being redeveloped.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1965]](/images/27000/27988.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![BR Standard class 4 4-6-0 no 75002 stands on shed at 5D Stoke-on-Trent in 1965.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1965]](/images/29000/29645.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![BR Standard class 4 4-6-0 no 75029 on shed at Stoke-on-Trent in 1965. The locomotive was withdrawn from here in August 1967 and has been preserved, although on last sighting it wasn't loooking too well [see image 28429].<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //1965]](/images/29000/29680.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![An up HST runs alongside the River Bollin in 1987. For a more modern view [see image 47609].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 04/05/1987]](/images/54000/54146.jpg "Macclesfield")
![Jinty 47383, (a Severn Valley locomotive) with a train near Cheddleton Station on the Churnet Valley Railway on a glorious August afternoon in 1997. [See image 40849]<br><br>[Peter Todd 09/08/1997]](/images/45000/45873.jpg "Cheddleton")
![BR Class 273/2 Regional or North of London Eurostar on the WCML (Stoke branch). This was the intended route for these trains to take to and from Manchester to the Continent but the service never started. Some of these units were later used by GNER for ECML (White Rose) services [see image 4913]. The photographer was lucky enough to be in the right place at the trackside when this train appeared on a test run: at that time London & Continental Railways (Eurostar(UK)) still had plans to run the international service.<br><br>[Charlie Niven /07/1998]](/images/55000/55822.jpg "Etruria")
![NoL Eurostar (now known as TGV Eurostar) on a test run on the WCML. At 14 coaches long it was not possible to capture the whole train from the trackside where the photographer was working. [see image 55905] for the power car and the leading coaches.<br><br>[Charlie Niven /07/1998]](/images/55000/55905.jpg "Etruria")
![Ex-LMS 8F 2-8-0 no 48305 running through Consall on the Churnet Valley Railway in July 2004.<br><br>[Peter Todd 03/07/2004]](/images/32000/32871.jpg "Consall")
![View towards Derby at Uttoxeter showing the basic facilities but a rather large waiting shelter. This may be intended for racegoers traffic as the horse racing course is just behind the Stoke platform. Trains towards Stoke are still controlled by a bracket semaphore signal just behind the photographer. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 03/10/2008]](/images/20000/20924.jpg "Uttoxeter")
![View across the level crossing towards Stoke-on-Trent from the platform at Blythe Bridge, which has lost most of its facilities but still has an hourly service on the Derby to Stoke and Crewe line. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 03/10/2008]](/images/20000/20926.jpg "Blythe Bridge")
![Barlaston: <i>Currently no train service operates from this station.</i>.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 10/09/2009]](/images/25000/25376.jpg "Barlaston")
![A London Midland service passing non-stop through Barlaston on its way south.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 10/09/2009]](/images/25000/25377.jpg "Barlaston")
![The fine facade of Stone station, south of Stoke on Trent. The platforms to the left on the Stoke line are still open whereas the ones on the Lichfield line, to the right, have been removed. The junction between the two lines is beyond the station building. View looks north.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 10/09/2009]](/images/25000/25546.jpg "Stone")
![A non-stopping service passes Stone on the Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent line.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 10/09/2009]](/images/25000/25581.jpg "Stone")
![Stone looking south. The line to the left is the Lichfield route and that to the right is to Stafford. The platforms on the Lichfield route have been removed. It looks a bit like standing on the prow of a ship here.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 10/09/2009]](/images/26000/26016.jpg "Stone")
![A southbound Pendolino approaches the level crossing at Wedgwood at speed in 2009. At the time there were no stopping services at the station.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 10/09/2009]](/images/34000/34873.jpg "Wedgwood")
![The former railway goods shed at Ashbourne in December 2009. Now surrounded by major new developments all around but still in use with a new company sign at the south west corner of the building.<br><br>[David Pesterfield 10/12/2009]](/images/27000/27581.jpg "Ashbourne")
![5542 stands at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway on 6 February 2010.<br><br>[Craig McEvoy 06/02/2010]](/images/29000/29031.jpg "Cheddleton")
![Hm ... although to be fair we all know what this says (and there is another sign at the level crossing)! Sign on the approach to the level crossing at Leek Brook South Junction. View looks west towards the level crossing on what is now the preserved Churnet Valley Railway.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 12/04/2010]](/images/28000/28899.jpg "Leek Brook South Junction")
![Looking to Leek Brook Halt from the level crossing to the south. The signalbox was Leekbrook Junction. Behind the camera the line runs to Oakamoor (the Churnet Valley Railway), off to the left (behind the fence) the line runs to Stoke-on-Trent, ahead the line ran to North Rode and a triangular junction to the right ran to Caldon Low. Stoke-on-Trent to Caldon Low is currently out of use although it is the intention of Moorlands and City Railways Ltd to re-open the route. Behind the camera and to the left a branch ran to the nearby hospital.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 12/04/2010]](/images/28000/28901.jpg "Leek Brook Halt")
![A single coach train heads towards Stoke from Uttoxeter. The west to north curve to Rocester was to the right and behind the camera and beyond the station an east to north curve completed a triangle of lines.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford 12/04/2010]](/images/28000/28918.jpg "Uttoxeter")
![A well kept station, in fine Victorian style. Stoke-on-Trent on 24 April 2011. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/04/2011]](/images/33000/33887.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![A Northbound Voyager pulls into Stoke-on-Trent on the morning of 24th April. Manchester was the destination, if I recall correctly.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/04/2011]](/images/33000/33933.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![The BLS 'Another Trent Explorer' railtour sidles into Stoke behind 66.157 on 24th April 2011.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/04/2011]](/images/35000/35005.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![The end of a long day - passengers leaving a London-bound Pendolino at Stoke-on-Trent on 24th April 2011.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/04/2011]](/images/35000/35163.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![This attractive Italianate station seems rather large for a small village just outside Ashbourne; but would include the station master's accommodation. The (small) signal box was removed to a preserved railway in the mid-1980s.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/05/2011]](/images/34000/34280.jpg "Clifton")
![At the Leek end of Cheddleton station on 18 May 2011 we find what every station needs - a crossing sign with legs and a handbag. Very adaptable.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/05/2011]](/images/34000/34853.jpg "Cheddleton")
![Would you like fish with your chips? The doors on the new tender for the S160 (US Military Transport Corps) locomotive reminded me of something else. Lovely glossy, straight steelwork. Photographed at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway in May 2011, with kind permission of CVR staff.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/05/2011]](/images/35000/35069.jpg "Cheddleton")
![The hard slog of preservation. Scene on the Churnet Valley Railway at Cheddleton on 18 May 2011. The NCB diesel-hydraulic on the right shows the excellent end result, but the ReS 47 needs 'a bit of work'.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/05/2011]](/images/35000/35075.jpg "Cheddleton")
![A London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly Pendolino calls at Stoke on Trent on 21 March 2012.<br><br>[John McIntyre 21/03/2012]](/images/38000/38102.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![A <I>CrossCountry</I> Voyager on a Manchester to Bournemouth service calls at Stoke-on-Trent on 21 March 2012. The train is at its 3rd stop 39 minutes into the 4 hours and 45 minute journey with another 14 to go before reaching its destination.<br><br>[John McIntyre 21/03/2012]](/images/41000/41526.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![Macclesfield had two stations, this is the former Central station - rebuilt and renamed as plain Macclesfield since Hibel Road station closed in 1960. The services shown are the 08.19 to Stoke-on-Trent on the left, and the 08.19 to Manchester Piccadilly on the right - a very good service level for a Saturday morning. View south on 12 May 2012.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 12/05/2012]](/images/38000/38999.jpg "Macclesfield")
![Macclesfield was considered to be a very modern station when rebuilt in the 1960s [see image 38999], but still has some pleasantly old fashioned features in 2012. The signal box is still operational, while the sand drag visible beyond it is the East end stub of the former secondary route to Manchester via Bollington, cut back to Rose Hill Marple in 1970.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 12/05/2012]](/images/39000/39173.jpg "Macclesfield")
![A <I>Pendolino</I> on a Manchester to Euston service passes the site of Hixon Halt (closed 1947) and its infamous level crossing. In 1968 a Euston bound express hauled by AL1 E3009 smashed into a 120 ton transformer on a low loader on the automatic half barrier crossing and eleven people were killed. The subsequent public enquiry resulted in a number of recommendations to improve safety at these crossings. A bridge was eventually built at Hixon in 2002 but it is still available as an engineers' access point.<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 25/05/2012]](/images/39000/39333.jpg "Hixon")
![A pair of class 37s resting at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway on 22 December 2013.<br><br>[John Thorn 22/12/2013]](/images/45000/45719.jpg "Cheddleton")
![USA 2-8-0 no 8046 in the spring sunshine at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway. <br><br>[John Thorn 25/02/2014]](/images/46000/46449.jpg "Cheddleton")
![An up Pendolino leaving Macclesfield on a Friday morning in May 2014. The sign on the footbridge has been added since my last visit [see image 38999]. The <I>dark satanic mill</I> in the background is adjacent to the road to Buxton.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 16/05/2014]](/images/47000/47609.jpg "Macclesfield")
![2944 <I>Hotspur</I> propels a 'Santa Special' into Cheddleton Station on 13 December.<br>
<br>
<br><br>[John Thorn 13/12/2014]](/images/49000/49750.jpg "Cheddleton")
![In a path between frequent Virgin and CrossCountry expresses and with its destination blind showing its starting point, Northern Rail 323238 arrives at Congleton with a Stoke-on-Trent to Manchester stopping service on 22 December.<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 22/12/2014]](/images/49000/49893.jpg "Congleton")
![With the rather uninspiring design of the station just visible in the background, the more attractive proportions and detail of the well preserved North Staffordshire Railway goods shed at Congleton are shown to advantage. Its condition is a credit to its owners.<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 22/12/2014]](/images/49000/49956.jpg "Congleton")
![With Bosley Cloud marking the boundary of the Cheshire Plain and the Peak District, a CrossCountry Voyager traverses North Rode viaduct and the valley of the River Dane with a service from Bournemouth to Manchester. North Rode station and the junction with the NSR Churnet Valley line to Uttoxeter were sited 500m north of the viaduct.<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 24/12/2014]](/images/49000/49917.jpg "North Rode")
![Visible through the cobweb of catenary at Macclesfield is a CrossCountry Voyager from Bournemouth destined for Manchester Piccadilly. Platform 3 on the right was used mainly as a turnback facility for stopping trains from Manchester. It is now used less frequently as the majority of these trains continue to Stoke-on-Trent but it is still available as a convenient bi-directional loop to allow delayed expresses to pass.<br><br>[Malcolm Chattwood 27/12/2014]](/images/49000/49903.jpg "Macclesfield")
![A dining train hauled by 33102 approaching Cheddleton from Consall on 17 June 2015.<br><br>[John Thorn 17/06/2015]](/images/51000/51687.jpg "Cheddleton")
![BRCW 33102 about to take a train past stock undergoing maintenance at Cheddleton on the heritage Churnet Valley Railway on 17 June 2015.<br><br>[John Thorn 17/06/2015]](/images/51000/51700.jpg "Cheddleton")
![33102 <i>Sophie</i> at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway on 20 June 2015.<br><br>[Peter Todd 20/06/2015]](/images/51000/51762.jpg "Cheddleton")
![Former US Army Transportation Corps class S160 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive no 5197 under extensive repair at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway in June 2015. <br><br>[Peter Todd 20/06/2015]](/images/51000/51775.jpg "Cheddleton")
![Tutbury and Hatton station, looking towards Derby on 30 August. The original station closed in 1966 but reopened in 1989 with platforms staggered either side of the level crossing. The large factory in the background is owned by Nestle and was rail served until the 1970s. <br><br>[Mark Bartlett 30/08/2015]](/images/52000/52536.jpg "Tutbury and Hatton")
![Last man standing - but it doesn't look like an action movie. A BLS member who had just left the 'North Midlands Tracker' railtour awaits his onward connection at Uttoxeter station on 27 February 2016. The footbridge is a fairly recent addition [see image 20924].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/02/2016]](/images/54000/54396.jpg "Uttoxeter")
![The 18.12 to Euston pauses at Stoke on the 16th of April 2016. The setting sun produces strong shadows, giving the station a very different appearance from my previous late night shot [see image 35163]. Notice the traditional blue lamp outside the BTP offices on the left.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 16/04/2016]](/images/54000/54937.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![A nice time of day for lighting conditions at Stoke, this time with an up 350 in the frame.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 16/04/2016]](/images/56000/56198.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![A new water tower under construction at Cheddleton on the North Staffordshire Railway, 15 May 2016.<br><br>[John Thorn 15/05/2016]](/images/55000/55197.jpg "Cheddleton")
![Looking south west towards Burton-on-Trent town centre in July 2016. The hump in the road shows where the level crossing was located, with the former station master's house on the left. Although some sources state that the wooden station building was demolished in 1964, I remember a wooden structure adjacent to this crossing in the winter 1983. The Nemesis Rail site is behind the white buildings in the background.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 09/07/2016]](/images/55000/55878.jpg "Stretton and Clay Mills")
![Progress on the water tower at Cheddleton on the North Staffordshire Railway. [[See image 55197]].<br><br>[John Thorn 25/07/2016]](/images/56000/56112.jpg "Cheddleton")
![A Euston to Manchester Pendolino calls at Macclesfield on 25 September 2016.<br><br>[John McIntyre 25/09/2016]](/images/56000/56642.jpg "Macclesfield")
![A southbound Arriva XC arrives at Platform 2 as a Northern Class 323 EMU departs for Manchester from Platform 1. Macclesfield is the location and 25 September 2016 is the date.<br><br>[John McIntyre 25/09/2016]](/images/58000/58752.jpg "Macclesfield")
![There is something surreal about passenger coaches adjacent to wagon number boards on a freight-only branch. This particular branch at Cliffe Vale brings china clay from Cornwall to Stoke-on-Trent, the train is the BLS 'Cliffe Hopper'. [Ref query 286] <br><br>[Ken Strachan 07/10/2016]](/images/57000/57589.jpg "Cliffe Vale")
![Looking North from the station overbridge at Stoke-on-Trent as the 19.07 to Crewe enjoys its scheduled 5 minute dwell time.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/10/2016]](/images/57000/57213.jpg "Stoke-on-Trent")
![USA 5137 in steam on 20th of February 2017, at Cheddleton on the North Staffordshire Railway.<br><br>[John Thorn 20/02/2017]](/images/58000/58490.jpg "Cheddleton")
![97301 (the former D6800) approaches the level crossing at Egginton Junction on 8th May 2017 hauling a measurement train from Derby towards Uttoxeter and Stoke-on-Trent.<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 08/05/2017]](/images/59000/59253.jpg "Egginton Junction")
![The level crossing at Hilton lies at the east end of the Egginton Junction station site and is operated by a gateman who works under the supervision of the mechanical box there. The station, one time junction for the GNR Derby Friargate line, closed in 1962.<br><br>[Mark Bartlett 08/05/2017]](/images/59000/59282.jpg "Egginton Junction")
![The site of Hanley station is now a car park for the Quality Hotel. The<br>
only remaining evidence of any railway activity is the grey parapet from the Trinity Street overbridge. This former station on the North Staffordshire Railway seen on 26th September 2017.<br>
<br>
<br><br>[John Thorn 26/09/2017]](/images/61000/61073.jpg "Hanley [2nd]")
![USATC 5197 makes a dramatic sight as it enters Consall station with the 16.53 to Cheddleton. The steam gala featured two American engines and one from Swindon via Aberbeeg.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 03/02/2018]](/images/62000/62883.jpg "Consall")
![Overcoaled, overwatered, and over here. Aberbeeg's 2-8-0T 4277 and USATC 5197 indulge in a little competitive smoking at Cheddleton on 3rd February 2018.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 03/02/2018]](/images/63000/63070.jpg "Cheddleton")
![This signal box at Leek Brook Junction was derelict and boarded up for years. Now that it is restored, it looks like it has always been that way. We need to do something about the signalmen's transport; an Austin 10 and a 3-speed Raleigh would seem more in period than an Audi and a Zafira. 3rd February 2018.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 03/02/2018]](/images/63000/63090.jpg "Leek Brook Junction")
