By Great Western to Crewe

The centrepiece of this railway history is the town of Market Drayton. Canals reached the town in 1835 enabling the produce of the area to reach the West Midlands and the North West of England with a reasonable chance that much of it would be acceptably fresh. Just as the town was beginning to feel the benefits of canal transport, so railways began to appear connecting neighbouring towns. Eventually, the 'railway mania' spawned a number of schemes that promised to include Market Drayton and thus provide transport links to the outside world, all failed to materialise. Consequently, the local people made several petitions to the London and North Western Railway to be considered in its schemes, without any success. However, the Great Western Railway was more responsive. The placement of the town on a through route to enable traffic to proceed with ease in all directions of the compass took about six years from the first steps. This history is presented in an A5 format, with 208 pages, and 190 illustrations.