Churnet Valley Line - London Midland Scottish Years

London Midland Scottish Years

Along with the rest of the NSR the line passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish railway (LMS) which made little change to the operation of the line. Passenger services remained much as they had done under the NSR, but Alton Towers became an increasingly popular tourist destination and frequent excursions terminated there. Further north, at Rudyard, there were quite a few changes as the LMS sold off the golf club and the Rudyard Hotel. One result was a confusing change of station names; Rudyard Lake was renamed Cliffe Park, and Rudyard was renamed Rudyard Lake.

One long distance train ran over the line, the Saturdays-only Eastern Counties Express between Manchester and Cromer ran in both directions along the Churnet Valley, stopping only at Leek to pick up/set down passengers to or from beyond Nottingham.

Freight traffic suffered from the effects of the Great Depression, the most notable casualty being the ceastion of operations at Caldon Low quarries, although they subsequent re-opened when the LMS found a lessee for the quarry. The narrow gauge line between the quarry and Froghall closed in 1936 and all output was shipped via the Waterhouses branch, which left the Churnet Valley line at Leekbrook Junction.