Photo Gallery 1

The British Rail days

Sand Trains

The Churnet Valley Railway was kept alive for 20 years by sand traffic from British Industrial Sand at Oakamoor.

Please click on the thumbnail to view the larger picture.

Class 25 locos were for many years the mainstay of the Oakamoor - St Helens sand services, usually double heading trains of HJV/HKV/HJO wagons.

With the demise of the 25s, Class 20, 31 and 47 locos took over. Vegetation is already starting to take over the trackbed at Oakamoor as 47485 prepares for departure.

Class 20s also saw use on sand trains - here a pair are seen heading an Oakamoor bound service at Podmore's mill south of Consall.

The last sand train ran on 30th August 1988 behind 20020 and 20132. Seen here at Leek Brook Junction. One or two more trains were to traverse the line during BR days, however...

Last Train

The last train along the Churnet Valley line operated by British Rail ran on 6th February 1990 and conveyed condemned coaches for use in a military exercise at Oakamoor. Click here to see a copy of the Special Traffic Notice issued to rail staff for the train.

All photos courtesy N.H. Allsop.

31970 stands at Oakamoor ready to return to Stoke with the train of condemned (and by now quite beyond repair) coaches.

Having marshalled the train the Research Department's 31 waits for the "right away".

The train arrives at Cheddleton waiting for the crossing gates to be opened - the last time this would happen for a number of years.

The gates are opened, and the last British Rail train leaves Cheddleton.

Dereliction

Following the departure of that last service, the Churnet Valley would fall quiet as nature began to reclaim the trackbed...

Photos N.H. Allsop/D.Felstead/C.A.Proctor/N.Welford