North Staffordshire Railway - Later Lines

Later Lines

Later branches constructed in the nineteenth century included lines from Stoke-on-Trent to Congleton via Smallthorne and Biddulph; Stoke-on-Trent to Leek; Newcastle to Silverdale, Keele and Market Drayton (junction with the Great Western Railway); Alsager to Audley, Leycett and Keele, and Rocester to Ashbourne.

Also opened in the nineteenth century was the only NSR line to achieve any degree of fame, the Potteries Loop Line from Etruria via Hanley, Cobridge, Burslem, Tunstall, Pitts Hill, Newchapel and Goldenhill to Kidsgrove Liverpool Rd. Authorised in stages in 1864–5, it opened to traffic in 1873. Its fame came from several mentions and a description of a journey on a Burslem to Hanley train in Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale.

Twentieth century construction included a branch from Leek to Cauldon Lowe via Waterhouses from where the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MV) was constructed through the Hamps and Manifold river valleys to Hulme End near Hartington. Although the L&MV was nominally independent the NSR both worked and operated the line.

Finally in 1910, a very short line was built from Stoke-on-Trent to Trentham Park. It was authorised as part of an alternative line to Newcastle-under-Lyme but construction work beyond Trentham was quickly abandoned owing to rising costs. The same act of parliament also transferred the Cheadle Railway to the NSR. The Cheadle Railway was a small local company constructed with NSR's backing, built at great cost over a period of twelve years. It was a short line from Cresswell to Cheadle, this line, only four miles long, included a very difficult tunnel. The line was opened from Cresswell to Totmonslow 7 November 1892 and to Cheadle, 1 January 1901.

A full list of authorisation and opening dates for sections of the NSR is given below.