[6] On 1 February 1870, the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) opened a line to Market Drayton from Silverdale.

With the arrival of the NSR, the station had to be enlarged and was rebuilt in a French Renaissance style with ornamental iron features and square-topped pavilions at each end.

[8] The NSR also built its own small engine shed at Market Drayton which lasted until 1931.

[14] The idea of converting the trackbed of the Wellington to Nantwich line into a footpath was rejected by Cheshire County Council which considered it not "particularly attractive for walkers".

[11] In 1994 the site was sold for supermarket redevelopment, but the Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway Society was able to dismantle some of the buildings and artefacts.