The Loop
The North Staffordshire Railway (Potteries Loop Line) Act received the Royal Assent on 5th July 1865, 1 It authorised the construction of a railway from Hanley, which was then the terminus of a branch from the main line of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) at Etruria, through the other important pottery towns of Burslem and Tunstall to join with the main line again at Kidsgrove. Initially, progress was virtually non-existent and several attempts were made to obtain powers to abandon the project but Parliament was having none of that! Finally, on 30th March 1870, the NSR directors decided to invite tenders for its construction. That turned out to be a very wise decision. The total length of the Loop was only six miles and three furlongs but in the heyday of the railway they were a very rich six miles on which there was a fifteen minute passenger service throughout the day – a veritable gold mine.2
The Engineer for the Loop was John Curphey Forsyth (1815-1879) who, at that stage in his career, held the position of NSR Consulting Engineer and the Engineer responsible for new lines. The contractors for the works were John & William Pickering of Blackfriars, London,3 who submitted the lowest tender in the sum of £144,468, which compared favourably with Forsyth’s estimate of £155,700.4
The Loop, which was double tracked throughout its length, was opened in several stages. The first stage from Hanley to Burslem, which included the 302 yards Cobridge Tunnel, was opened on Saturday 1st November 1873. The tunnel was on the section of line referred to as ‘Cutting Number Two’ which ran for five furlongs from Waterloo Road, including the tunnel. The section involved the removal of 178,249 cubic yards of earth and in places the cutting was 40ft deep. The gradient through the tunnel was 1 in 67 climbing towards Cobridge station.
The first official Board of Trade inspection of the line between Hanley and Tunstall took place ondistance apart of 2ft 8in from centre to centre. The joints of the rails were secured by wrought iron fish plates, weighing 18lb per pair, with four screw bolts and nuts. He noted that the line was ballasted to the depth of one foot with furnace cinders, sand and pottery refuse. Pottery refuse, known locally as shraff, was in plentiful supply.
