The North Staffordshire Railway was formed in 1845 and operated a number of lines in the Potteries and North Staffordshire based around Stoke-on-Trent. The railways were fast growing in Staffordshire (as in most places) in the 1840s though no lines existed in the Potteries. The North Staffordshire Railway was formed from two smaller projects to build railways in the area. Acts of Parliament were granted and money raised, work to build the railways began in 1846.
Freight and passenger services began in 1848 with the first train running from a temporary station in Stoke to Norton Bridge where the railway was connected to the much larger London North Western Railway. The NSR opened it's permanent station at Stoke-on-Trent later that year, it was to become the railway's headquarters. All of the lines specified in the Acts of Parliament were open by 1852.
The NSR grew it's network with a total route mileage of 221, making it one of the top twenty railway companies by route mileage - just! The NSR served towns such as Crewe, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Congleton, Tutbury, Keele and Kidsgrove.
Unlike other railway companies the size of the NSR it never amalgamated with larger players (until 1923). The LNWR tried a few times though approaches were resisted. The NSR was eventually absorbed into the LMS along with the LNWR, Midland Railway and a number of other companies.
Two NSR locomotives have been preserved, a battery electric shunter and a New L Class steam locomotive - one of the last locomotives built for the company, indeed it did not enter service until after the NSR had ceased to exist.
 |
| Battery electric shunter at the National Railway Museum |
 |
| NSR No. 2 at the Foxfield Railway |
 |
| Stoke-on-Trent railway station |
