Rudyard railway station served

Rudyard Rudyard may refer to: Places *Rudyard, Mississippi, United States, an unincorporated community *Rudyard, Montana, United States, a census-designated place *Rudyard Township, Michigan, United States *Rudyard, Staffordshire, England, a village ** Rudy ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and was opened by the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was based i ...

(NSR) in 1850 on the Churnet Valley line. In the village the NSR also owned the Rudyard Hotel as part of the company's efforts to develop

Rudyard Lake Rudyard Lake is a reservoir in Rudyard, Staffordshire, located north-west of the town of Leek, Staffordshire. It was constructed in the late 18th century to feed the Caldon Canal. During the 19th century, it was a popular destination for day ...

and its environs as a tourist destination. In 1926 the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

renamed the station Rudyard Lake and at the same time Rudyard Lake station at the north end of the lake was renamed . As Rudyard Lake station, it remained open until passenger services were withdrawn from the northern end of the Churnet valley line ( – ) in 1960. Freight services lasted until 1964 when they too were withdrawn and the track lifted.

Subsequent use

In 1978 a

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

was built on the west side of the trackbed from Rudyard Station to the Dam. This closed two years later and was moved to the Suffolk wildlife park. and then to Trago Mills in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. One of the locomotives, a model of the

Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, England that operated between 1904 and 1934. The line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the system. It also p ...

engine No.1 ''E. R. Calthrope'' now periodically revisits the current railway at Rudyard. A further

minimum gauge Minimum-gauge railways have a gauge of most commonly , , , , , or . The notion of minimum-gauge railways was originally developed by estate railways and the French company of Decauville for light railways, trench railways, mining, and farming ...

railway was started in 1985 and extended to a distance of towards Cliffe Park station. Today the station area is used by the

Rudyard Lake Steam Railway The Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is a ridable miniature railway and the third railway of any gauge to run along the side of Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire, England. Overview The railway runs for on the track bed of an old standard gauge North St ...

as its headquarters and as a public car park. Rudyard station now includes engine and carriage sheds, workshop,

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

, footbridge, the Platform 2 café and a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

. The railway has five steam locomotives and 11 carriages and a number of wagons and operates year-round. This railway celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010. The original up side standard gauge platform and retaining walls and flower beds are still visible. The Platform 2 cafe now uses this area for its seating and the original waiting shelter foundations for its buildings.

Route

References

;Notes ;Sources * * *

External links

Rudyard Lake Steam Railway website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudyard Railway Station Disused railway stations in Staffordshire Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1960 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850 Former North Staffordshire Railway stations Articles containing video clips