The S&UR series is made of 8 easy-to-find traditional caches hidden what remains of the old line of the Staffordshire & Uttoxeter Railway in Stafford. Each cache gives you a bit of the history of the entire line. If you are a ‘beginner’ geocacher also look out for two “EarthCaches” nearby to #1 and #6, which don’t always show up on beginners’ phone apps.
S&UR History, Part Two: Early Schemes
In the early 1840s several schemes were put forward to link Stafford and Uttoxeter by rail. Two were planned to extend as far as Derby. Notice of the first of these was placed in 1845. Called the Derby, Uttoxeter and Stafford Railway it was part of plans for a cross-country line from the Eastern Counties to Holyhead.
However, another scheme called the Grand Junction and Midland Union Railway was proposed at the same time. This would proceed from the Trent Valley Railway, then under construction, at Carlton Mill north of Rugeley. This would link with the Midland Railway via Burton on Trent. However, when the Trent Valley line was opened in 1847 it did not have the connection to Burton, and the project to build the Stafford junction line was abandoned.
Text from Jones P (1981) The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway, Salisbury: The Oakwood Press, via Wikipedia