The Cannock Mineral Railway was a railway company that built a line from Cannock to join the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) at Rugeley, in England. It was conceived and authorised as the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Junction Railway, with the intention of connecting Dudley and Uttoxeter, but it was hopelessly undercapitalised and badly managed.
As finally built it was seven miles in length, and joined the South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) at Cannock. It was leased to, and then absorbed by the LNWR, and with the SSR it simply formed part of the LNWR network in the district, chiefly serving extractive industries.
It opened to passenger and goods traffic in 1859. Passenger traffic was discontinued in 1965, but was resumed in 1989 and is still (2022) in operation, with a typically half-hourly service operated by West Midlands Trains under the branding London Northwestern.
Development of scheme
Early proposals
An ambitious railway scheme called the Derbyshire, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Junction Railway was proposed during the Railway Mania period of 1846. It was intended to connect Uttoxeter to Dudley, and by running powers over the North Staffordshire Railway to connect to Manchester.
The route had been surveyed by Sir John Rennie and George Remington; during the Parliament hearings, Rennie admitted that he had never laid a line through such a thinly populated district. This proved to be a fatal remark, as the South Staffordshire Junction Railway (SSJR) Bill was passed in Parliament at the same time. The SSJR scheme was for a railway linking Walsall and Dudley, and the DS&WJR proposal included similar ground. Two new railways over a thinly populated terrain were unsustainable, and the SSJR scheme looked more fruitful; the DS&WJR Bill was thrown out by the Lords Committee.
In the next session of Parliament, the SSJR was proposing an additional line, from Walsall to Cannock. The DS&WJR too was in Parliament in the next session with a revised scheme. Avoiding a second confrontation with the SSJR, it put forward a more modest proposal, a railway from Uttoxeter to Cannock. It proposed to make an end-on junction with the North Staffordshire Railway at Uttoxeter, and another at Cannock with the SSJR. The Bill passed through Parliament, receiving the Royal Assent on 2 July 1847. The authorised share capital was £440,000, and the line was to be 18 miles in length.
A contractor named George Mould was given the contract to build from Rugeley to Cannock. However ten months later on 26 November 1852 the Company's engineer John Addison reported that work had been suspended due to the very bad state of the weather, and the following year on 16 September 1853 he reported that little had been done since his last inspection. Addison was criticised by the Board and was suspended, but a month later on 19 December 1853 he was reinstated.
Speeding up the construction
The parliamentary powers for construction of the line were time limited, and by now there were only six months left. At the Annual General Meeting on 25 February 1854 it was agreed to seek an extension of time. More significantly it was recognised that a lack of sufficient share take-up meant that the company had little money to proceed with the project, and a major partner would be required, with enough financial backing to enable the construction to move forward. In 1852 Addison had prepared a scheme for an extension from Cannock to Wolverhampton via Four Ashes, connecting with the Great Western Railway. Further plans were made to join the GWR at Wednesbury instead, and a partnership with the GWR was proposed. Addison was instructed to approach Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Engineer of the GWR, and on 16 July Addison reported that Brunel was favourably disposed to the idea. However, the London and North Western Railway was dominant in the area and was known to be hostile; the scheme would need Parliamentary approval, and it was expected that the LNWR would be able to frustrate the GWR alliance.
There was now desperation to find a well-funded partner. In 1854 and 1855 approaches were made for help to John McClean, the lessee of the South Staffordshire Railway, but he was not interested. On 7 May 1855 the board agreed to abandon any intention of proceeding north of Rugeley, making the planned extent of the line miles; and to reduce the share capital to £200,000 (later altered to £160,000). In addition the name of the company was to be changed to the Cannock Mineral Railway. The new company was authorised by Act of 14 August 1855.