Cheddleton
Track Diagram
Crossing
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Brief History
Cheddleton station was located on the North Rode to Uttoxeter double track diversionary route built by the North Staffordshire Railway in 1849. With initially only a handful of trains each day the route profited from freight and heavy excursion traffic in the summer months, for example Alton Towers is 10 miles south down the line. Cheddleton was a small station with the double track running through with a siding and goods shed which is the bay today. The line kept passenger services until the Beeching cuts of 1963 when the entire line from Leek south to Uttoxeter closed to passengers in 1965. In 1968, the line was singled and only sand traffic from Stoke through to Oakamoor kept the line open. These trains continued until 1995 when Moneystone quarry (Oakamoor) stopped sending sand by rail. The line was closed but luckily not lifted. The main station building built to an unusual design survived, and is the only one left that still sees paying passengers (all the others at Rushton, Froghall, Oakamoor and Alton have either been demolished or the track closed and lifted).
Reopening
While sand trains had been running the station building was saved in the late 1970s by preservationists who continued to create a working museum with a short demonstration line from the goods shed parallel to the main line for a couple of hundred yards which carried passengers for the first time in 1982. The goods siding was converted into a bay and sheds were put up south of the station which associated sidings and stock built up over the years. The next leap forward was the purchase of the 7 mile section of track between Leekbrook and Oakamoor and trains returned to the main platform in 1996 running Push-pull trains to Leekbrook. Meanwhile at the station facilities were upgraded with a car park, shops and cafe being added. In 1998 the extension to Consall meant Cheddleton became a through station.
Over the years the goods yard became the railway’s engineering headquarters and has been developed as finances have allowed. The yard now consists of two stock sidings (one is partly used for steam loco disposal & coaling and partly for support vehicle storage. The other is used for diesel locomotives and the demonstration goods train) plus a third line for access to the four shed roads. A three road engine shed has been built and was joined by a carriage shed in 2004. Other facilities such as oil stores and countless installations of important machinery have also been added over the years.
Other developments have included a large gantry signal (in preparation to fully signalling the station) and the reconnecting of the second platform to the mainline, albeit as a stock siding for now.
The Future
Being the railway's headquarters the future is bright for Cheddleton. The yard area is set to improve as the operating department grows and raises standards, the station is expected to be redeveloped at some point. and the siding into
2010 will hopefully see the relocation of Whitebridge Lane Crossing Cottage to the currently unused second platform at Cheddleton. This future development will hopefully bring proper toilets and a tearoom to Cheddleton and will “complete” the station site, replacing portacabins that were in use previously.
The other main development for the future is the repair of a long standing landslip to the south of the station platforms which has prevented a loop (and signalling) being installed at Cheddleton. Once this development is progressed the second platform siding can become a passing loop and perhaps herald the return of two mainline trains at once in Cheddleton station.
Page last updated 27/5/10
