North Staffordshire Railway - Other Interests

Other Interests

In common with most other British railway companies, the NSR decided early on that it was advantageous to carry out its own maintenance work in all departments and also to undertake much of its own new construction work. Stoke railway works were opened in 1849, capable of producing carriages, wagons and other equipment. Construction of locomotives followed later, commencing in 1864.

Ownership of the Trent & Mersey canal made the NSR the biggest canal owning railway with 130 miles (209 km) of waterways owned. The T&M owned Rudyard Lake which the NSR made use of as a leisure complex, building a golf course, in 1905, on land adjoining the lake. A further area of interest, again via ownership of the T&M, was the lease on Caldon Low quarries. Associated with the quarry was the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) tramway that ran from the quarries to Froghall making the NSR the operator of lines of three different gauges.

Although the NSR principally served the urban areas of the Potteries, it did promote the area for tourism, especially the Churnet Valley which local hoteliers had labelled as "Staffordshire's little Switzerland". The company issued a 150 page guide called Picturesque Staffordshire to support this promotion and dispel the widespread held idea that the county was dull and bleak In addition to the tourist traffic generated the NSR owned three hotels; the North Stafford in Stoke (opposite Stoke station), the Churnet Valley in Leek and the Hotel Rudyard at Rudyard.