 The company was based in Stoke @-@ on @-@ Trent and was nicknamed The Knotty ; its lines were built to the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1 @,@ 435 mm ) . The main routes were constructed between 1846 and 1852 and ran from Macclesfield to Norton Bridge , just north of Stafford , and from Crewe to <unk> Junction , west of Derby . Within these main connections with other railway companies , most notably the London and North Western Railway ( LNWR ) , the company operated a network of smaller lines although the total route mileage of the company never exceeded 221 miles ( 355 @.@ 7 km ) . The majority of the passenger traffic was local although a number of LNWR services from Manchester to London were operated via Stoke . Freight traffic was mostly coal and other minerals but the line also carried the vast majority of china and other pottery goods manufactured in England . 
