Lost Railways of Staffordshire, Leslie Oppitz

Staffordshire was once rich in rural railways and the sight of bustling stations and steam trains pulling liveried coaches across the countryside was common.

Trains first came to the county in July 1837 when the Grand Junction Railway opened between Birmingham and Warrington via Crewe.  This line was of immediate benefit to the Potteries.  Ten years later another strategically important line - the Trent Valley line - opened from rugby to Stafford.  And son after that, the North Staffordshire Railway opened, linking Manchester with the main line from Stafford to Crewe.

From these routes, branch lines developed joining remote villages and towns and providing transport not only for passengers but for goods as well.  Farms, quarries and mines had at last found a quicker and more reliable way to get their products to market. 

This was the heyday of the railway age but it was not to last.  By the 1930s competition from road transport led to closures which continued in to the 1960s when the Beeching Act finished off all but the main lines. 

In this excellently written and well researched book, author Leslie Oppitz tells the story of the lost lines - the reason for their construction and for their closure. Modern photographs accompany those taken when the country's lines were open. 

Originally published as part of the books Shropshire and Staffordshire Railways Remembered, this Staffordshire volume has been fully revised and updated.