Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway

In the early 1840s a number of schemes were put forward to link Stafford and Uttoxeter by rail. Two, in particular, were planned to extend as far as Derby. Notice of the first of these was placed in 1845. Called the Derby, Uttoxeter and Stafford Railway it was part of plans for a cross-country line from the Eastern Counties to Holyhead. However, another scheme called the Grand Junction and Midland Union Railway was proposed at the same time. This would proceed from the Trent Valley Railway, then under construction, at Carlton Mill north of Rugeley. This would link with the Birmingham and Derby line of the Midland Railway at Burton on Trent. The Trent Valley line was opened in 1847 without the connection to Burton, and the other project was abandoned.

The North Staffordshire Railway opened its station at Uttoxeter in 1848, while the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company opened its line to Wellington from Stafford in 1849, making the link between the two even more logical. Accordingly, plans for the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway were submitted in 1861.

In support of the line were the growing shoe-making industry in Stafford and the Leighton Ironworks in Uttoxeter, of the Bamford family, forebears of J. C. Bamford. The latter was destined to become one of the largest agricultural equipment maker in the country. Support came initially from the Shropshire Union Railway, for transport of cattle from Wales, but when it was taken over by the LNWR this was withdrawn, and the line was also opposed by the North Staffordshire. However royal assent was given in 1862.

Construction began almost immediately. There were problems with the price of land and with labour. The contractors were Brassey and Field and by 1866 the cost had become £10,000 a mile. In addition there would need to be a tunnel at Bramshall and a major cutting at Hopton, the latter being 60 feet deep in solid rock. Initially four stations were built, at Salt, Ingestre, Stowe and Grindley substantial enough to last well into the 20th century.

The line opened for general traffic in December 1867. It owned seven coaches, sixteen wagons and one goods van but, initially, no locomotive. Motive power line was provided by the contractors who had become shareholders in the company. Instead of booking office staff, tickets were sold on the train, and there was little in the way of telegraphic or signalling equipment. The first locomotive was a 2-4-0 tank engine supplied in 1868 by Beyer, Peacock and Company and was named Shrewsbury and Talbot after a local landowner. By 1874, Stafford had expanded northwards and a new station was built at the Common, where there was horseracing, fares and agricultural shows.

However, from the beginning the company suffered from a lack of investment so in 1865 a second bill was brought to Parliament to authorise the raising of further finance. Much of its problems stemmed from the continued opposition from the LNWR and the NSL. They would not keep reliable connections at their stations and would refuse to accept goods for onward transit even if prepaid. Actions that may have contributed to the derailment of a train on the curve at the end of Hopton Cutting in 1873. The service, which was on a very tightly-timed schedule, had been delayed by five minutes at Uttoxeter was speeding to make an LNWR connection at Stafford when it came off the tracks. Both the driver and fireman men were killed; the guard, booking clerk and six passengers were injured, some quite seriously. As a result, the timetable was amended to allow more time for the journey. The Board of Trade also suggested that engines should have more weight placed on the leading wheels.

By 1878 it was clear that operating costs were exceeding traffic receipts and a receiver was appointed. The suggestion was made that, since it seemed likely that the LNWR and the NSR would continue to be uncooperative, approaches should be made to the GNR or the Midland, who could operate the line bringing in their own traffic. The aim of connecting to Derby had still not been achieved. While the LNWR and NSR were on good terms with the Midland and exercised running powers over its lines into Derby and Burton, the GNR had built a new line in competition with all three – its Derbyshire extension – and was anxious to penetrate further westward.

In 1879 the Great Northern Railway took over the Stafford and Uttoxeter network. This merger allowed trains to also use NSR lines between Uttoxeter and Egginton Junction, with reciprocal rights for the NSR services using the Stafford and Uttoxeter line. This linked with both Derby Friargate and Burton upon Trent. The NSR also ran trains from Stafford to Nottingham, using the Midland's loop through Castle Donington and Shardlow.

The extra income allowed the Stafford and Uttoxeter to buy a second engine in 1880. This was an 0-4-4 saddle tank by Beyer Peacock, bought second-hand from the North London Railway and named Ingestre. However the end was near for the line as a separate company and, in 1881, the GNR purchased it for £100,000.

Not only had there not been the finance to modernise the line, it was, by this time, completely run down. GNR invested £40,000 in improving the facilities at Stafford Common, providing passing loops at each station, and block signalling. It made the most of its penetration of rival territory by opening through service from Grantham via Nottingham and Derby to Stafford.

During the First World War cutbacks were made to passenger services and facilities. However, there was considerable freight movement westwards from the armament factories at Branston and Chilwell. Royal Engineers, who had been trained at Longmoor Military Railway, were drafted in to work parts of the line.

In 1919 plans to extend the railway (particularly at Stafford Common) were announced but they were not proceeded with after the announcement of the Railways Act 1921.

In 1923, the line became part of the London and North Eastern Railway with the passing of the grouping act. Through the 1920s and early 1930, the line became profitable because of the popularity of excursions to places such as the picturesque village of Salt, the racecourses at Uttoxeter or Doncaster, and through trains to the seaside (particularly Skegness).

In 1939, an engine from Stafford passed a signal at danger at Bromshall Junction resulting in a collision with a freight train on the main line. The Stafford loco overturned trapping the driver. The signalman at Leigh managed to stop an approaching freight which included a number of oil tankers.

In 1938, a regular bus service was introduced between Stafford to Uttoxeter that led to a fall in passenger numbers. With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, passenger services were reduced to one train a day. On 4 December 1939, all civilian passengers services were suspended. By 1940 only military personnel from RAF Stafford and the British Army depot near Bromshall were permitted to use the line.

After the war, civilian passenger and freight services briefly resumed. In 1949 the line became part of British Railways Eastern Region after nationalisation of the UK rail network. A year later it had become part of the Midland Region.

In 1951 the line was closed to all services except Stafford-bound military traffic using the extensive sidings at RAF Stafford (which remained in operation until 1975). All stations were closed and the bulk of the signalling removed by 1953. A special organised by the Stephenson Locomotive Society in 1957 became the last train to travel the entire route. Track from Hopton and Uttoxeter was lifted between 1957 and 1962. The railway bridge over the Trent and Mersey Canal at Weston was eventually removed in the 1990s; it had been used by a local farm to let dairy cattle cross the canal.

The junction at the north end of Stafford station is still known as "Uttoxeter Line Junction Number 5"[1]

• Uttoxeter
• Grindley
• Chartley
• Ingestre
• Salt
• Stafford Common (1874)
• Stafford

• Jones P (1981) The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway, Salisbury: The Oakwood Press

• History of Weston and Ingestre with some mention of the local railways
• Historic Photographs along the line
• Photographs Stafford to Uttoxeter Railway - Past and Present

Railway junctions around Stafford