Colliery working in the Cannock area expanded enormously, and mineral traffic carryings increased in step.

Short distance passenger operation in the Walsall area was always buoyant, but in the post-1945 period a decline set in, and industrial retrenchment resulted in a gradual loss of goods and mineral business too.

This Walsall to Rugeley service and a very short section at Lichfield are the only remaining passenger operations on the former SSR system Birmingham and the surrounding area acquired the epithet The Workshop of the World, supporting a huge range of diverse manufacturing industries.

In the earliest days this was acceptable; the hilly nature of the centre of Birmingham would have been difficult for early railways to approach, and interchange, particularly between the L&BR and the GJR, were simplified by their proximity.

This led to the formation of (among others) two large groups with significant presences in Birmingham: In August 1845, the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was obtaining authorisation to build its line.

The board decided on a modest start to construction, by building from Walsall to Bescot on the former Grand Junction Railway route.

[15][16][17] However Boynton says: The date is often given as 9th April, but all that happened then was the running of a special for Directors, followed by a celebratory lunch at the George Hotel, Lichfield, attended by the mayor of the city and the High Sheriff of Staffordshire.

For some time it had been obvious that the original pattern of the earlier main lines was imperfect, and steps were taken to improve matters.

There was a huge demand for transport of raw materials in and completed goods out, and factories were established in newly developed locations .

Interconnection between railways of diverse ownership was essential in this environment, and the SSR's position cutting across the grain of many main lines resulted in the construction of a number of junctions and spurs to enable transfer traffic.

Usually referred to as the Stour Valley Line, it was an affiliate of the LNWR providing a more satisfactory route between Birmingham and Wolverhampton for that company.

The connecting line was known as the Sedgeley Loop[note 3] and it ran to a position alongside the new Stour Valley station and beyond it to form a junction with it.

The Board of Trade inspecting officer, Captain Galton, declined to allow opening of the section of line east of the station.

The "Dudley" part of the BW&DR name represented a branch line that very closely duplicated most of the SSJR route.

[29] The 1855 act also authorised a branch from Wednesbury to a triangular junction with the Stour Valley line at Tipton, penetrating a heavily industrialised area around Princes End.

A Walsall to Wolverhampton passenger service operated (to the northward curve) and its fate varied greatly, as there were better routes available for such a connection.

in 1878, earlier (1855) powers having lapsed; it ran eastward from the SSR line near Pelsall to Leighs Wood colliery.

On the same day the Portobello curve opened, connecting the GJR route into Wolverhampton LNWR station directly from the south-east for the first time.

[33][34] In 1853 James Allport became General Manager of the Midland Railway,[35] and from that time relations between that company and the SSR became strained.

Through running at Wichnor Junction was discontinued at Allport's insistence, and exchange sidings had to be built there for handing over goods wagons.

Negotiations to agree the financial implications of the disengagement were extremely protracted, and McClean's lease terminated on 1 February 1860.

He was compensated for the loss of profit for the residue of his lease; the sum was £110,099, which Boynton says, "made an already wealthy man stupendously rich".

The transfer was ratified by the London and North Western Railway (New Works and Additional Powers) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict.

This was a double edged sword, for it gave the LNWR, as owner of the SSR network, running powers over the Midland Railway into Burton.

Neele wrote, Arriving at Wichnor Junction I was surprised to see a large number of platelayers, about, two or three engines in steam, and a saloon carriage in the siding.

Some wiser counsels had prevailed at Derby, for when the time came, the opposing force had disappeared, and we made a triumphal journey towards Burton.

[39]In the South Staffordshire Railway Act 1847 there were powers to build from Walsall to Cannock, which was becoming an important centre of extractive industry.

It had been rebuffed, but in the 1847 session a more modest scheme was authorised by the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Junction Railway Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict.

c. cx) from the North Staffordshire Railway at Uttoxeter to Cannock, making an end-on connection with the (proposed) SSR line there.

Following the end of World War II there was a steep decline in the use of local passenger trains, and of wagonload goods services, and British Railways accumulated huge losses.