Pictures recorded end of the line

A green two-carriage diesel pulled in. It was the last scheduled passenger train which would ever stop there. Then it pulled away with its whistle blowing and handbell ringing.

Among the crowd was Robert Marston, chief railway inspector at Stafford, who started his career in the railway at Newport in 1916.

To mark the occasion Mr Marston was given the last ticket to be collected at the station as a souvenir.

It was not quite the end of the line for Newport station, as freight continued, and trains still ran after the station was demolished in the spring of 1968.

The last ever train was on Monday, September 23, 1968. A British Rail diesel, number D1841, it chugged out of Newport station's goods yards with 15 loaded wagons.

Afterwards the track was lifted and the site cleared. Happily Peter Hayward, who was a staff photographer on the Newport & Market Drayton Advertiser, was a railway enthusiast and took a series of photographs of the transition, which have survived.

His collection of railway pictures has been given by his widow to collector Paul France of Madeley who has sorted through them and scanned in the negatives.

"He was a train buff so most of the material his widow gave me is pictures of engines. They are not just steam, but umpteen pics of diesel engines, overhead electric, and so on. There are also numerous brown envelopes - thankfully carefully labelled - containing negatives," said Paul.

As for Newport station, it is approaching 50 years since it last saw any trains, but if some folk have their way there could be a revival.

Some months ago a petition was launched calling for the reopening of the line linking Shrewsbury to Stafford. It would if it came to fruition mean that trains would pass through Donnington and on to Newport. However, there are formidable obstacles, both literally and metaphorically, with developments, either existing or proposed, on the route.

The 14-mile railway line between Stafford and Newport is now a cycle route.