[1] Intended to route traffic to Trentham Gardens, the branch was authorised in 1907 and opened on 1 April 1910.
[1] However, a plan to extend the line to Pool Dam, Newcastle-under-Lyme, to form a four mile long route around the growing suburbs was approved by the North Staffordshire Railway (Trentham Newcastle-under-Lyme and Silverdale Light Railway) Order 1914.
[2] In preparation for this a steel bridge was constructed in September 1914 over London Road (now part of the A34) just beyond Trentham Park, along with a brick culvert to protect a water main from the planned embankment, but work on the extension was halted by World War I, and officially abandoned by the North Staffordshire Railway Act 1921.
Numerous unpublicised passenger trains ran to serve it, along with a daily freight working.
[1] After the war the line continued to be used for excursion trains from the Midlands, the last one running from Birmingham on 1 October 1957.