Midland Railway
Encyclopedia
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom
from 1844
to 1922
, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
.
The Midland Railway had a large network of lines centred on the East Midlands
, with its headquarters based in Derby
. Initially connecting Leeds with London
(St Pancras
) via the East Midlands by what is now the Midland Main Line
, it went on to connect the East Midlands with Birmingham
and Bristol
, and with York
and Manchester
. It was the only pre-grouping railway to own or share lines in England
, Scotland
, Wales
and Ireland
, becoming the third largest railway undertaking in the British Isles (after the Great Western and the London & North Western), the largest coal haulier, the largest British railway to have its headquarters outside London, and (after the Great Central railway moved its HQ to London in 1907) the only railway serving London not to have its headquarters there and the only Midlands-based railway directly serving Southern England and South Wales.
, the North Midland Railway
, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
. These met at the Tri-Junct station at Derby, where the railway also established its locomotive
and later its carriage and wagon
works.
Leading it were the dynamic but unscrupulous George Hudson
from the North Midland, and John Ellis
from the Midland Counties, a careful businessman of impeccable integrity. From the Birmingham line James Allport
found a place elsewhere in Hudson's empire with the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, though he later returned.
The line was in a commanding position having its Derby headquarters at the junctions of the two main routes from London to Scotland. This by virtue of its connections to the London and Birmingham Railway
in the south, and, in the north, the lines from York
, via the York and North Midland Railway
.
and the Erewash Valley Line
in 1845, the latter giving access to the Nottinghamshire
and Derbyshire
coalfields. It absorbed the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway
in 1847, building a connection of the latter between Chesterfield
and Trent Junction
at Long Eaton
, finally completed to Chesterfield in 1862, the Erewash Valley Line
, giving access to the coalfields that would become its major source of income. Passengers from Sheffield
continued to use Masborough
until a direct route was completed in 1870.
Meanwhile it extended its influence in the Leicestershire
coalfields, firstly by buying the Leicester and Swannington Railway
in 1846, then extending it to Burton in 1849.
was left with the traffic to Birmingham and Bristol
, at that time still an important seaport. The original 1839 line from Derby had run to Hampton-in-Arden railway station
, but the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
had built a terminus at Lawley Street
in 1842, then in 1851 the Midland started to run into Curzon Street
.
The line south was the Birmingham and Bristol Railway
, which reached Curzon Street via Camp Hill
. These two lines had been formed by the merger of the standard gauge
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
and the broad gauge
Bristol and Gloucester Railway
.
They met at Gloucester via a short loop of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway
. The change of gauge at Gloucester meant that everything had to be transferred between trains, creating chaos. Morever, the C&GWU was owned by the Great Western Railway
, which wished to extend its network by taking over the Bristol to Birmingham route. While the two parties were bickering over the price, the Midland's John Ellis overheard two directors of the Birmingham and Bristol Railway
on a London train discussing the business, and took it on himself to pledge that the Midland would match anything the Great Western would offer.
Since it would have brought broad gauge into Curzon Street
, with the possibility of extending it to the Mersey, it was something that the other standard gauge lines wished to avoid, and they pledged to assist the Midland with any losses it might incur. In the event all that was necessary was for the later LNWR
to share Birmingham New Street
with the Midland when it was opened in 1854. At this time Lawley Street
became a goods depot.
to run through Peterborough
and Lincoln
but it had barely reached Cambridge
.
Two obvious extensions of the Midland Counties line were from Nottingham
to Lincoln and from Leicester
to Peterborough. They had not been proceeded with, but Hudson saw that that they would make ideal "stoppers." In other words, if the cities concerned were provided with a rail service, it would make it more difficult to justify another line. They were approved while the bill for the direct line was still before Parliament, forming the present day Lincoln Branch
and the Syston to Peterborough Line
.
The Leeds and Bradford Railway
had been approved in 1844. By 1850 it was losing money but a number of railways offered to buy it out. Hudson made an offer more or less on his own account and the line gave the Midland an exit to the north which later became the start of the Settle and Carlisle line. In addition it gave the Midland a much more convenient station at Leeds Wellington.
) led by Edmund Denison persisted, and the bill passed through Parliament in 1846.
Hudson changed his allegiance and promoted a short line to connect his York and North Midland Railway
to Knottingley, ostensibly as a quarry line, that would give the Great Northern an easy entry into York.
His defection incensed the Midland's directors. Their rejection of him attracted the attention of others and questions began to be asked about other aspects of his financial affairs. Apart, perhaps, from the canals, until the beginning of the century there had simply been no companies with the size and capitalisation of the railways. Company law was still in its infancy, something which many took advantage of. There is no doubt that Hudson had greatly encouraged railway development, but his financial practices had often been dubious. In the end he was discredited and retired to Paris in poverty.
After Hudson's departure, the Midland was in financial difficulties. Opposition to the Great Northern bill had cost a fortune, a great deal of maintenance was overdue, and the Lincoln and Peterborough lines were still to be paid for. Added to this, the Great Northern was taking much of the traffic from the North-East, particularly as the Midland was dependent on the LNWR from Rugby
into London.
Thanks to the control that had been exercised by John Ellis, there was no impropriety in the company's accounts, and it was due to his business acumen that the Midland survived and prospered.
Rather than compete on the passenger front, he first set out to concentrate on the coal trade, for in this he had an advantage over both the GNR and the M&SLR
. While a number of lines had access to the Yorkshire fields and resisted encroachment by others, the Midland had virtually sole access to the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire mines, which were thirty miles or more nearer London.
completed its line from Grantham
as far as Colwick
, from where a branch led to the Midland's Nottingham station. The Great Northern Railway
by then passed through Grantham and both railway companies paid court to the fledgling line. Meanwhile Nottingham had woken up to its branch line status and was keen to expand. The Midland made a takeover offer only to discover that a shareholder of the Great Northern Railway
had already gathered a quantity of Ambergate shares. An attempt to amalgamate the line with the Great Northern Railway
was foiled by Ellis who managed to obtain an Order in Chancery preventing the GN from running into Nottingham. However in 1851 it opened a new service to the north which, regardless of this, included Nottingham.
In 1852 an ANB&EJR
train arrived in Nottingham with a Great Northern Railway
locomotive at its head. When it uncoupled and went to "run around" the train it found its way blocked by a Midland engine, while another blocked its retreat. The engine was shepherded to a nearby shed and, for good measure, the tracks were lifted. This episode became known as the "Battle of Nottingham" and, though the action moved to the courtroom, it was seven months before the loco was released.
and its successor the London and North Western Railway
had been under pressure from two directions. Firstly the Great Western Railway had been foiled in its attempt to enter Birmingham by the Midland, but it still had designs on Manchester. At the same time the LNWR was under threat from the Great Northern's attempts to enter Manchester by means of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
.
The LNWR was led by the brilliant but totally unscrupulous Captain Mark Huish
. At first, observing the poor state of the Midland finances, he had proposed an amalgamation which Ellis opposed, seeking better terms. He then formed an alliance with the MS&LR and the Midland against the Great Northern, which became known as the Euston Square Confederacy.
An agreement was reached whereby passenger traffic was shared and the Midland would be compensated for passengers taken by the GN. Another problem which arose in 1851 coincided with the Great Exhibition. The GN had just opened and took most of the Midland's traffic. The Midland retaliated by cutting its fares, resulting in a price war in which journeys were virtually being given away. Gladstone, who was the minister responsible for railways at that time, imposed a traffic sharing scheme between the two lines for journeys from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In time the Midland grew stronger and, when relationships were soured between Huish and the MS&LR, the Confederacy was virtually at an end.
.
Although a bill for running the line from Hitchin
into Kings Cross, jointly with the Great Northern Railway
, was passed in 1847 it had not been proceeded with.
The bill was resubmitted in 1853 with the support of the people of Bedford, whose branch to the LNWR was slow and unreliable, and with the knowledge of the Northamptonshire iron deposits.
The new line ran from Wigston
toward Market Harborough
, through Desborough
, Kettering
, Wellingborough
and Bedford, then on the Bedford to Hitchin Line
joining the GNR at Hitchin
to run into King's Cross.
While this took some of the pressure off the route through Rugby, the GN would not allow passengers into London on Midland trains. It insisted that they should alight at Hitchin, buying tickets in the short time available, to catch a GNR train to finish their journey. In the end James Allport managed to arrange a seven-year deal with the Great Northern Railway
(GNR) to run into King's Cross for a guaranteed £20,000 a year (£ as of ),. Through services to London were introduced from February 1858.
The new line would deviate at Bedford and would pass through a gap in the Chiltern Hills
at Luton
, reaching London by curving around Hampstead Heath
to a point between King's Cross and Euston.
The new station at St Pancras
, completed in 1868, has remained as a marvel of "Victorian Gothic" architecture, in the form of the enormous hotel by Gilbert Scott
which faces Euston Road
, and the massive wrought-iron train shed designed by William Barlow
. Its construction was not simple, since it had to approach over an ancient abandoned graveyard. Below it was the Fleet Sewer, while a branch from the main line was to be built, running underground with a steep gradient beneath the station to join the Metropolitan Railway
which ran parallel to what is now Euston Road.
to reach Manchester.(See Derby station) The ideas had never reached fruition since the practicality of using cable haulage for passenger trains was always in doubt.
Finally the Midland joined with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway
(M&BR), which was also looking for a route to London from Manchester, in a proposal for a line from Ambergate
. To be known as the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
, it received the Royal Assent in 1846, in spite of opposition from the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
. It was completed as far as Rowsley
a few miles north of Matlock
in 1849. However the M&BR had become part of the LNWR in 1846, thus instead of being a partner it had an interest in thwarting the Midland.
In 1863 the Midland reached Buxton, just as the LNWR arrived from the other direction by means of the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway
. In 1867 the Midland began an alternative line through Wirksworth (now known as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
), to avoid the problem of the Ambergate line. The section from Wirksworth to Rowsley, which would have involved some tricky engineering, was not completed because the Midland gained control of the original line in 1871. Access to Manchester, however, was still blocked at Buxton. At length an agreement was made with the MS&LR to share lines, built from a branch at Millers Dale
and running almost alongside the LNWR, in what became known as the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee
.
Continuing friction with the LNWR caused the Midland to join the MS&LR and the GN in the Cheshire Lines Committee
, which also gave scope for wider expansion into Lancashire and Cheshire, and finally a new station at Manchester Central
.
In the meantime Sheffield had at last gained a main line station. Following representations by the council in 1867 the Midland promised to build a through line within two years. To the Midland's surprise, the Sheffield councillors then backed an improbable speculation called the Sheffield Chesterfield Bakewell Ashbourne Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway. This was unsurprisingly rejected by Parliament and the Midland built its "New Road" into a station at Pond Street. Loathed by all who used it, it was rebuilt in 1905 as the present Sheffield railway station.
Among the last of the major lines built by the Midland was a connection between Sheffield and Manchester, by means of a branch at Dore to Chinley
, opened in 1894, involving the construction of the Totley
and Cowburn
Tunnels, now known as the Hope Valley Line
.
seemed oblivious to the massive expansion in coal and mineral production that was occurring in South Wales during the second half of the 19th century. The LNWR had already penetrated the area by taking over various small local lines. The Midland followed suit and in 1867 took over the Swansea Vale Railway
, followed by the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
in 1886. These acquisitions were also exploited in the form of a passenger service from Hereford to Swansea which, in conjunction with running powers over the Great Western between Worcester and Hereford, permitted the provision of through carriages from Birmingham to Swansea in competition with the Great Western. Midland passenger and freight trains also ran on a branch of the Swansea Vale to Brynamman(East).
Meanwhile in the East Midlands, dominance along the Erewash Valley was being challenged by the Great Northern and the Great Central
. In 1878 the GNR's "Derbyshire Extension" line through Derby Friargate
opened. This cut directly through the coalfields north of the Midland line which ran along the Trent Valley, and in extending to Egginton
, had access to Burton-on-Trent and its lucrative beer traffic.
Thus the Midland retaliated with lines from Ambergate to Pye Bridge, from Basford
to Bennerley Junction, and Radford
to Trowell
. Later when mining became possible under the limestone to the east, more lines appeared around Mansfield
(LNWR) over access rights to the LNWR line to Scotland caused the MR to construct the Settle and Carlisle
line, the highest main line in England, in order to secure the company's access to Scotland.
The dispute with the LNWR was settled before the Settle and Carlisle was built, but Parliament
refused to allow the MR to withdraw from the project. The Midland was also under pressure from Scottish railway companies which were eagerly awaiting the Midland traffic reaching Carlisle as it would allow them to challenge the Caledonian Railway
's dominance over the west coast rail traffic to Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Glasgow and South Western Railway
had its own route from Carlisle to Glasgow via Dumfries and Kilmarnock whilst the North British Railway
had built a line through the Scottish Borders
from Carlisle to Edinburgh. The Midland was obliged to go ahead with the new line and the Settle to Carlisle route was completed in 1876.
By 1870 the Midland straddled the country, lines from London and the South West meeting at Derby to travel to Scotland via the North West and the North-East. There were now four tracks from London most of the way from Trent Junction. In 1879 these were complemented by the Melton Line via , which continued to Nottingham through , thus providing Nottingham with an alternative route for London trains north of .
By the middle of the decade investment had been paid for; passenger travel was increasing, with new comfortable trains; and the mainstay of the line (goods traffic, particularly minerals) was increasing dramatically.
Allport retired in 1880, to be succeeded by John Noble and then by George Turner. By the new century the quantity of goods, particularly coal, was clogging the network. The Midland passenger service was acquiring a reputation for lateness. Lord Farrar reorganised, at least, the expresses but by 1905 the whole system was so overloaded that no one able to predict when many of the trains would reach their destinations and there were crews spending as much as a whole shift standing at a signal.
At this point Sir Guy Granet
took over as General Manager. He introduced a centralised traffic control system, and the locomotive power classifications that became the model for those used by British Rail.
The Midland acquired a number of other lines, including the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway in 1903 and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
in 1912. The Midland shared running rights on some lines, but it also developed lines in partnership with other railways, and was involved in more such 'Joint' lines than any other. In partnership with the Great Northern Railway it owned the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
to provide connections from the Midlands to East Anglia; the M&GN was the UK's biggest joint railway. The MR also provided motive power for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, and was a one-third partner in the Cheshire Lines Committee
.
serving Douglas
and Belfast
.
The Midland had not recovered from this when in 1921 the Government passed the Railways Act, with those uncomfortable bedfellows, the Midland and the LNWR, joining the Lancashire and Yorkshire
, the Caledonian
and the Glasgow and South Western Railway
, along with such lines as the Furness
and the North Staffordshire
to form the London Midland and Scottish Railway.
for train
s in Britain, put third-class carriages on all its trains in 1872, and abolished second class in 1875, giving third-class passengers the level of comfort formerly afforded to second-class passengers (elsewhere some third-class passengers travelled in open wagons). This was an entirely pragmatic move—the second-class seats were not well patronised—but controversial. The railway also introduced the first British Pullman
supplementary-fare cars.
The company was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
(LMS) on 1 January 1923.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from 1844
1844 in rail transport
-February events:* February 7 - The South Eastern Railway is officially opened throughout from London to Dover.-March events:* March 29 - Atmospheric railway opened between Kingstown and Dalkey in Ireland.-May events:* May 6 - J. M. W...
to 1922
1922 in rail transport
- May events :* May 17 – The Arkansas Short Line Railroad, a predecessor of St. Louis Southwestern Railway, is incorporated.- July events :* July 1 – The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 begins in the United States, coinciding with a reduction in railroad shop wages by seven cents per day mandated by...
, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
.
The Midland Railway had a large network of lines centred on the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
, with its headquarters based in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
. Initially connecting Leeds with London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(St Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
) via the East Midlands by what is now the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
, it went on to connect the East Midlands with Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, and with York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. It was the only pre-grouping railway to own or share lines in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, becoming the third largest railway undertaking in the British Isles (after the Great Western and the London & North Western), the largest coal haulier, the largest British railway to have its headquarters outside London, and (after the Great Central railway moved its HQ to London in 1907) the only railway serving London not to have its headquarters there and the only Midlands-based railway directly serving Southern England and South Wales.
Origin
The Midland Railway Consolidation Act was passed in 1844 authorising the merger of the Midland Counties RailwayMidland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1832 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR system connected with the North Midland Railway and the...
, the North Midland Railway
North Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
. These met at the Tri-Junct station at Derby, where the railway also established its locomotive
Derby Works
The Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities in Derby building locomotives and, initially, rolling stock in Derby, UK.-Early days:...
and later its carriage and wagon
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...
works.
Leading it were the dynamic but unscrupulous George Hudson
George Hudson
George Hudson , English railway financier, known as "The Railway King", was born, the fifth son of a farmer, in Howsham, in the parish of Scrayingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, north of Stamford Bridge, east of York. He is buried in Scrayingham...
from the North Midland, and John Ellis
John Ellis (businessman)
John Ellis , of Beaumont Leys in Leicester, was instrumental in interesting George Stephenson in the proposed Leicester and Swannington Railway....
from the Midland Counties, a careful businessman of impeccable integrity. From the Birmingham line James Allport
James Joseph Allport
Sir James Joseph Allport , English railway manager, born in February 1811, was a son of William Allport, of Birmingham and was associated with railways from an early period of his life....
found a place elsewhere in Hudson's empire with the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, though he later returned.
The line was in a commanding position having its Derby headquarters at the junctions of the two main routes from London to Scotland. This by virtue of its connections to the London and Birmingham Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
in the south, and, in the north, the lines from York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, via the York and North Midland Railway
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds.-Origins:...
.
Consolidation
Almost immediately it took over the Sheffield and Rotherham RailwaySheffield and Rotherham Railway
The Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was a short railway between Sheffield and Rotherham and the first in the two towns.In the early nineteenth century, when news broke of the building of the North Midland Railway, it was clear that George Stephenson would follow the gentle gradient of the Rivers...
and the Erewash Valley Line
Erewash Valley Line
The Erewash Valley Line is a railway line in Britain running from south of Chesterfield along the Erewash Valley to Trent Junction at Long Eaton, joining the Midland Main Line at each end.- History :...
in 1845, the latter giving access to the Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
and Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
coalfields. It absorbed the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway
Mansfield and Pinxton Railway
The Mansfield and Pinxton Railway was an early horse-drawn railway company in the United Kingdom, constructed in 1819 to transport coal between Mansfield and the head of the Pinxton branch of the Cromford Canal and thence by the Erewash Valley and the Trent to Leicester...
in 1847, building a connection of the latter between Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
and Trent Junction
Trent railway station
Trent railway station was situated near Long Eaton in Derbyshire at the junction of the Midland Railway line from London to Derby and Nottingham...
at Long Eaton
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in Derbyshire, England. It lies just north of the River Trent about southwest of Nottingham and is part of the Nottingham Urban Area...
, finally completed to Chesterfield in 1862, the Erewash Valley Line
Erewash Valley Line
The Erewash Valley Line is a railway line in Britain running from south of Chesterfield along the Erewash Valley to Trent Junction at Long Eaton, joining the Midland Main Line at each end.- History :...
, giving access to the coalfields that would become its major source of income. Passengers from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
continued to use Masborough
Rotherham Masborough railway station
Rotherham Masborough railway station was the main railway station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England from the 1840s, until most of its trains were rerouted via Rotherham Central in 1987...
until a direct route was completed in 1870.
Meanwhile it extended its influence in the Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
coalfields, firstly by buying the Leicester and Swannington Railway
Leicester and Swannington Railway
The Leicester and Swannington Railway was one of England's first railways, being opened on 17 July 1832 to bring coal from collieries in west Leicestershire to Leicester.-Overview:...
in 1846, then extending it to Burton in 1849.
The South-West
After the merger, London trains were carried on the shorter Midland Counties route. The former Birmingham and Derby Junction RailwayBirmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
was left with the traffic to Birmingham and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, at that time still an important seaport. The original 1839 line from Derby had run to Hampton-in-Arden railway station
Hampton-in-Arden railway station
Hampton-in-Arden railway station serves the village of Hampton-in-Arden in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the West Coast Main Line between Coventry and Birmingham. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland....
, but the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
had built a terminus at Lawley Street
Lawley Street railway station
Lawley Street railway station was opened in Birmingham in 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway.The B&DJR had opened on 12 August 1839 with a line to Hampton, where it met the London and Birmingham Railway for passengers from Derby and the North East...
in 1842, then in 1851 the Midland started to run into Curzon Street
Curzon Street railway station
Curzon Street railway station was a railway station in Birmingham that was used briefly for regular scheduled passenger services between 1838 and 1854 when it acted as the terminus for both the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway, with lines connecting Birmingham to London...
.
The line south was the Birmingham and Bristol Railway
Birmingham and Bristol Railway
The Birmingham and Bristol Railway was a short-lived railway company, formed in 1845 by the merger of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway and the Bristol and Gloucester Railway.-Origin:...
, which reached Curzon Street via Camp Hill
Camp Hill railway station
Camp Hill railway station was a railway station in Birmingham opened by the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway in 1840 and was its first terminus.Subsequently the line extended to join the London and Birmingham Railway to the latter's Curzon Street terminus....
. These two lines had been formed by the merger of the standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway is a railway route linking Birmingham to Gloucester in England.It is one of the world's oldest main line railways and includes the famous Lickey Incline, a dead-straight stretch of track running up the 1-in-37 gradient of the Lickey Ridge...
and the broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Bristol and Gloucester Railway
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway opened in 1844 between Bristol and Gloucester, meeting the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. It is now part of the main line from the North-East of England through Derby and Birmingham to the South-West.-History:...
.
They met at Gloucester via a short loop of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway
Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway
The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway was a broad gauge railway that linked the Great Western Railway at Swindon, Wiltshire, with Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England...
. The change of gauge at Gloucester meant that everything had to be transferred between trains, creating chaos. Morever, the C&GWU was owned by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, which wished to extend its network by taking over the Bristol to Birmingham route. While the two parties were bickering over the price, the Midland's John Ellis overheard two directors of the Birmingham and Bristol Railway
Birmingham and Bristol Railway
The Birmingham and Bristol Railway was a short-lived railway company, formed in 1845 by the merger of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway and the Bristol and Gloucester Railway.-Origin:...
on a London train discussing the business, and took it on himself to pledge that the Midland would match anything the Great Western would offer.
Since it would have brought broad gauge into Curzon Street
Curzon Street railway station
Curzon Street railway station was a railway station in Birmingham that was used briefly for regular scheduled passenger services between 1838 and 1854 when it acted as the terminus for both the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway, with lines connecting Birmingham to London...
, with the possibility of extending it to the Mersey, it was something that the other standard gauge lines wished to avoid, and they pledged to assist the Midland with any losses it might incur. In the event all that was necessary was for the later LNWR
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
to share Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street Station
Birmingham New Street is the main railway station serving Birmingham, England, located in the city centre. It is an important hub for the British railway system, being served by a number of important long-distance and cross-country lines, including the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line,...
with the Midland when it was opened in 1854. At this time Lawley Street
Lawley Street railway station
Lawley Street railway station was opened in Birmingham in 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway.The B&DJR had opened on 12 August 1839 with a line to Hampton, where it met the London and Birmingham Railway for passengers from Derby and the North East...
became a goods depot.
Eastern competition
As has been noted, the Midland controlled all the traffic to the North East and Scotland from London. The LNWR was progressing slowly through the Lake District. Meanwhile there was pressure for a direct line from London to York. Permission had been gained for the Northern and Eastern RailwayNorthern and Eastern Railway
The Northern & Eastern Railway operated one of the two main lines which eventually became the Great Eastern Railway: the other being the Eastern Counties Railway....
to run through Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
and Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
but it had barely reached Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
.
Two obvious extensions of the Midland Counties line were from Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
to Lincoln and from Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
to Peterborough. They had not been proceeded with, but Hudson saw that that they would make ideal "stoppers." In other words, if the cities concerned were provided with a rail service, it would make it more difficult to justify another line. They were approved while the bill for the direct line was still before Parliament, forming the present day Lincoln Branch
Nottingham to Lincoln Line
The Nottingham to Lincoln Line is a railway line in central England, running from Nottingham north east to Lincoln.The line between Newark and Lincoln is currently only cleared for speeds, Nottinghamshire County Council have paid for a study into running....
and the Syston to Peterborough Line
Syston and Peterborough Railway
The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1845 and 1848 to form a branch from the Midland Counties Railway at Syston just north of Leicester to Peterborough.-Origins:...
.
The Leeds and Bradford Railway
Leeds and Bradford Railway
The Leeds and Bradford Railway was formed in 1843 to bring the railway to Bradford: the line opened on 1 July 1846. The company was always closely allied with the Midland Railway, and within ten years the L&BR had been absorbed into the Midland, and disappeared.-History:The line and the two...
had been approved in 1844. By 1850 it was losing money but a number of railways offered to buy it out. Hudson made an offer more or less on his own account and the line gave the Midland an exit to the north which later became the start of the Settle and Carlisle line. In addition it gave the Midland a much more convenient station at Leeds Wellington.
Hudson's defection
In spite of the objections of Hudson, for the Midland, and others, the new "London and York Railway", (later the Great Northern RailwayGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
) led by Edmund Denison persisted, and the bill passed through Parliament in 1846.
Hudson changed his allegiance and promoted a short line to connect his York and North Midland Railway
York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds.-Origins:...
to Knottingley, ostensibly as a quarry line, that would give the Great Northern an easy entry into York.
His defection incensed the Midland's directors. Their rejection of him attracted the attention of others and questions began to be asked about other aspects of his financial affairs. Apart, perhaps, from the canals, until the beginning of the century there had simply been no companies with the size and capitalisation of the railways. Company law was still in its infancy, something which many took advantage of. There is no doubt that Hudson had greatly encouraged railway development, but his financial practices had often been dubious. In the end he was discredited and retired to Paris in poverty.
After Hudson's departure, the Midland was in financial difficulties. Opposition to the Great Northern bill had cost a fortune, a great deal of maintenance was overdue, and the Lincoln and Peterborough lines were still to be paid for. Added to this, the Great Northern was taking much of the traffic from the North-East, particularly as the Midland was dependent on the LNWR from Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
into London.
Thanks to the control that had been exercised by John Ellis, there was no impropriety in the company's accounts, and it was due to his business acumen that the Midland survived and prospered.
Rather than compete on the passenger front, he first set out to concentrate on the coal trade, for in this he had an advantage over both the GNR and the M&SLR
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
. While a number of lines had access to the Yorkshire fields and resisted encroachment by others, the Midland had virtually sole access to the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire mines, which were thirty miles or more nearer London.
The Battle of Nottingham
In 1851 the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction RailwayAmbergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway
The Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway was an early British railway company, which opened in 1850.The original aim was to link to the proposed Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway at Ambergate to link Manchester with Boston and the East Coast...
completed its line from Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
as far as Colwick
Colwick
Colwick is a suburb in the east of Greater Nottingham in England. It forms part of the Nottinghamshire borough of Gedling, although Colwick Country Park is actually within the city boundary. It lies between the River Trent and the railway line, with nearby places being Netherfield , Bakersfield ,...
, from where a branch led to the Midland's Nottingham station. The Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
by then passed through Grantham and both railway companies paid court to the fledgling line. Meanwhile Nottingham had woken up to its branch line status and was keen to expand. The Midland made a takeover offer only to discover that a shareholder of the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
had already gathered a quantity of Ambergate shares. An attempt to amalgamate the line with the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
was foiled by Ellis who managed to obtain an Order in Chancery preventing the GN from running into Nottingham. However in 1851 it opened a new service to the north which, regardless of this, included Nottingham.
In 1852 an ANB&EJR
Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway
The Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway was an early British railway company, which opened in 1850.The original aim was to link to the proposed Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway at Ambergate to link Manchester with Boston and the East Coast...
train arrived in Nottingham with a Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
locomotive at its head. When it uncoupled and went to "run around" the train it found its way blocked by a Midland engine, while another blocked its retreat. The engine was shepherded to a nearby shed and, for good measure, the tracks were lifted. This episode became known as the "Battle of Nottingham" and, though the action moved to the courtroom, it was seven months before the loco was released.
The Euston Square Confederacy
The London and Birmingham RailwayLondon and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
and its successor the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
had been under pressure from two directions. Firstly the Great Western Railway had been foiled in its attempt to enter Birmingham by the Midland, but it still had designs on Manchester. At the same time the LNWR was under threat from the Great Northern's attempts to enter Manchester by means of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
.
The LNWR was led by the brilliant but totally unscrupulous Captain Mark Huish
Mark Huish
Captain Mark Huish was an English railway manager. He is best known for his term as General Manager of the London & North Western Railway, which he held for 12 years, beginning from the Company's formation in 1846....
. At first, observing the poor state of the Midland finances, he had proposed an amalgamation which Ellis opposed, seeking better terms. He then formed an alliance with the MS&LR and the Midland against the Great Northern, which became known as the Euston Square Confederacy.
An agreement was reached whereby passenger traffic was shared and the Midland would be compensated for passengers taken by the GN. Another problem which arose in 1851 coincided with the Great Exhibition. The GN had just opened and took most of the Midland's traffic. The Midland retaliated by cutting its fares, resulting in a price war in which journeys were virtually being given away. Gladstone, who was the minister responsible for railways at that time, imposed a traffic sharing scheme between the two lines for journeys from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In time the Midland grew stronger and, when relationships were soured between Huish and the MS&LR, the Confederacy was virtually at an end.
King's Cross 1857 - 1868
In 1850 the Midland, though much more secure, was still a provincial line. Ellis realised that if it were to fend off its competitors it must expand outwards. The first step, in 1853, was to appoint James Allport as General Manager and the next was to shake off the dependence on the LNWR from Rugby into EustonEuston railway station
Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
.
Although a bill for running the line from Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
into Kings Cross, jointly with the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
, was passed in 1847 it had not been proceeded with.
The bill was resubmitted in 1853 with the support of the people of Bedford, whose branch to the LNWR was slow and unreliable, and with the knowledge of the Northamptonshire iron deposits.
The new line ran from Wigston
South Wigston railway station
South Wigston railway station is a railway station serving the suburb of South Wigston, Leicester, England. The station is on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line about south of . South Wigston station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains Train Operating Company...
toward Market Harborough
Market Harborough railway station
Market Harborough railway station serves the town of Market Harborough in Leicestershire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line, 16 miles south-east of Leicester and is served by the fast and semi-fast East Midlands Trains Class 222 "Meridian"/HST services...
, through Desborough
Desborough railway station
Desborough railway station was built by the Midland Railway in 1857 on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin.Later called Desborough and Rothwell it closed in 1968.-References: ...
, Kettering
Kettering railway station
Kettering railway station is to the south-west of the Kettering town centre in Northamptonshire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line, north of London St...
, Wellingborough
Wellingborough railway station
Wellingborough railway station is located the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line, it is from London St. Pancras...
and Bedford, then on the Bedford to Hitchin Line
Bedford to Hitchin Line
The Bedford to Hitchin Line was a branch of the Midland Railway which served stations at Cardington, Southill, Shefford and Henlow in Bedfordshire, England. It opened in 1857, but was largely made redundant as a through-route to London by the extension of the Midland Main Line to St Pancras...
joining the GNR at Hitchin
Hitchin railway station
Hitchin Railway Station serves the town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire. It is located approximately north east of the town centre and north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line....
to run into King's Cross.
While this took some of the pressure off the route through Rugby, the GN would not allow passengers into London on Midland trains. It insisted that they should alight at Hitchin, buying tickets in the short time available, to catch a GNR train to finish their journey. In the end James Allport managed to arrange a seven-year deal with the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
(GNR) to run into King's Cross for a guaranteed £20,000 a year (£ as of ),. Through services to London were introduced from February 1858.
St. Pancras 1868
By 1860 Midland was in a much better position and was able to approach new ventures aggressively. Its carriage of coal and iron - and beer from Burton-on-Trent - had increased by three times and passenger numbers were rising, as they were on the GN. Since the GN trains took precedence on its own lines, Midland passengers were becoming more and more delayed. Finally in 1862 the decision was taken for the line have its own terminus in the Capital as befitted a national railway.The new line would deviate at Bedford and would pass through a gap in the Chiltern Hills
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
at Luton
Luton railway station
Luton railway station is located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The station is near to the town centre, about three minutes' walk from the Arndale Shopping Centre. It is situated on the Midland Main Line and is operated by First Capital Connect.-History:...
, reaching London by curving around Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay...
to a point between King's Cross and Euston.
The new station at St Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, completed in 1868, has remained as a marvel of "Victorian Gothic" architecture, in the form of the enormous hotel by Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
which faces Euston Road
Euston Road
Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
, and the massive wrought-iron train shed designed by William Barlow
William Henry Barlow
On 28 December 1879, the central section of the North British Railway's bridge across the River Tay near Dundee collapsed in the Tay Bridge disaster as an express train crossed it in a heavy storm. All 75 passengers and crew on the train were killed...
. Its construction was not simple, since it had to approach over an ancient abandoned graveyard. Below it was the Fleet Sewer, while a branch from the main line was to be built, running underground with a steep gradient beneath the station to join the Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
which ran parallel to what is now Euston Road.
To Manchester
From the 1820s proposals for lines from London and the East Midlands had been proposed, and they had considered using the Cromford and High Peak RailwayCromford and High Peak Railway
The Cromford and High Peak Railway in Derbyshire, England, was completed in 1831, to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge -Origins:...
to reach Manchester.(See Derby station) The ideas had never reached fruition since the practicality of using cable haulage for passenger trains was always in doubt.
Finally the Midland joined with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway
Manchester and Birmingham Railway
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway...
(M&BR), which was also looking for a route to London from Manchester, in a proposal for a line from Ambergate
Ambergate railway station
Ambergate railway station is a railway station owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains Train operating company . It serves the village of Ambergate in Derbyshire...
. To be known as the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock and thence to Buxton....
, it received the Royal Assent in 1846, in spite of opposition from the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne...
. It was completed as far as Rowsley
Rowsley
Rowsley is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire.It is at the point where the River Wye flows into the River Derwent and prospered from mills on both.-Overview:...
a few miles north of Matlock
Matlock railway station
Matlock Railway Station is a railway station owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains. It is located in the Derbyshire town of Matlock in Derbyshire, England. The station is now currently the terminus of both the Derwent Valley Line from Derby and Peak Rail who operate heritage...
in 1849. However the M&BR had become part of the LNWR in 1846, thus instead of being a partner it had an interest in thwarting the Midland.
In 1863 the Midland reached Buxton, just as the LNWR arrived from the other direction by means of the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway
Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway
The Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway was an early railway company in England which was opened in 1857 between Stockport Edgeley and Whaley Bridge.- Origins :...
. In 1867 the Midland began an alternative line through Wirksworth (now known as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a long heritage railway in Derbyshire, the headquarters of the railway centre around Wirksworth station and services operate between Wirksworth and Duffield and Wirksworth and Ravenstor...
), to avoid the problem of the Ambergate line. The section from Wirksworth to Rowsley, which would have involved some tricky engineering, was not completed because the Midland gained control of the original line in 1871. Access to Manchester, however, was still blocked at Buxton. At length an agreement was made with the MS&LR to share lines, built from a branch at Millers Dale
Millers Dale
Millers Dale is a valley on the River Wye in Derbyshire.It is a popular beauty spot in the Peak District of England, much of the area being preserved as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Nearby is Ravenstor and Cheedale, both popular with rock-climbers...
and running almost alongside the LNWR, in what became known as the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee
Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee
The Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1869 as a joint venture between the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.-Origins:...
.
Continuing friction with the LNWR caused the Midland to join the MS&LR and the GN in the Cheshire Lines Committee
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway...
, which also gave scope for wider expansion into Lancashire and Cheshire, and finally a new station at Manchester Central
Manchester Central railway station
Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester City Centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it now houses an exhibition and conference centre named Manchester Central.-History:...
.
In the meantime Sheffield had at last gained a main line station. Following representations by the council in 1867 the Midland promised to build a through line within two years. To the Midland's surprise, the Sheffield councillors then backed an improbable speculation called the Sheffield Chesterfield Bakewell Ashbourne Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway. This was unsurprisingly rejected by Parliament and the Midland built its "New Road" into a station at Pond Street. Loathed by all who used it, it was rebuilt in 1905 as the present Sheffield railway station.
Among the last of the major lines built by the Midland was a connection between Sheffield and Manchester, by means of a branch at Dore to Chinley
Chinley railway station
Chinley railway station serves the village of Chinley in Derbyshire. The station is 28 km south east of Manchester Piccadilly....
, opened in 1894, involving the construction of the Totley
Totley Tunnel
Totley Tunnel is a tunnel on the former Midland Railway Manchester-Sheffield line between Totley on the outskirts of Sheffield and Grindleford in Derbyshire, England. It was completed in 1893 and was the longest mainline railway tunnel within the United Kingdom that ran under land for its entire...
and Cowburn
Cowburn Tunnel
The Cowburn Tunnel is a railway tunnel at the western end of the Vale of Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District of England.The tunnel is long. It was built in 1891 by the Midland Railway, under Colborne...
Tunnels, now known as the Hope Valley Line
Hope Valley Line
The Hope Valley Line is a railway line in England linking Sheffield with Manchester. It was completed in 1894.From Sheffield, trains head down the Midland Main Line to Dore, where the Hope Valley Line branches off to run through the Totley Tunnel .It emerges in the stunning scenery of the Hope...
.
Competition for coal
The Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
seemed oblivious to the massive expansion in coal and mineral production that was occurring in South Wales during the second half of the 19th century. The LNWR had already penetrated the area by taking over various small local lines. The Midland followed suit and in 1867 took over the Swansea Vale Railway
Swansea Vale Railway
|-|colspan="2" width="320"|-History:First opened in 1816 as a tramroad for conveying coal from Scott's Pit, near Birchgrove, to wharves on the River Tawe nearly four miles to the south, the Swansea Vale route grew to become a feeder railway for several mines and metal-working industries in the...
, followed by the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
The Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway was an early railway linking Hereford in England with Brecon in Wales.-Incorporation and early history:...
in 1886. These acquisitions were also exploited in the form of a passenger service from Hereford to Swansea which, in conjunction with running powers over the Great Western between Worcester and Hereford, permitted the provision of through carriages from Birmingham to Swansea in competition with the Great Western. Midland passenger and freight trains also ran on a branch of the Swansea Vale to Brynamman(East).
Meanwhile in the East Midlands, dominance along the Erewash Valley was being challenged by the Great Northern and the Great Central
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
. In 1878 the GNR's "Derbyshire Extension" line through Derby Friargate
Derby Friargate railway station
Derby Friargate Station was the main station in Derby on the Great Northern Railway Derbyshire Extension popularly known as the Friargate Line.- History :-Friargate Bridge:...
opened. This cut directly through the coalfields north of the Midland line which ran along the Trent Valley, and in extending to Egginton
Egginton
Egginton is a village in the local government district of South Derbyshire, England. It is located just off Ryknild Street, otherwise known as the A38, between Derby and Stretton, Burton upon Trent. It is historically a farming community...
, had access to Burton-on-Trent and its lucrative beer traffic.
Thus the Midland retaliated with lines from Ambergate to Pye Bridge, from Basford
Basford, Nottingham
Basford is a suburb in northern Nottingham. Basford parish was absorbed into Nottingham in 1877. It gave its name to the Basford Rural District which existed from 1894 to 1974....
to Bennerley Junction, and Radford
Radford, Nottingham
Radford is an inner-city area of Nottingham, located just outside the city centre itself.-History:Radford is bounded on the south by Lenton and Nottingham, and comprises around of land....
to Trowell
Trowell
Trowell is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies a few miles west of Nottingham, in the borough of Broxtowe on the border with Derbyshire. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,568....
. Later when mining became possible under the limestone to the east, more lines appeared around Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
To Scotland
In the 1870s a dispute with the London and North Western RailwayLondon and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
(LNWR) over access rights to the LNWR line to Scotland caused the MR to construct the Settle and Carlisle
Settle-Carlisle Railway
The Settle–Carlisle Line is a long main railway line in northern England. It is also known as the Settle and Carlisle. It is a part of the National Rail network and was constructed in the 1870s...
line, the highest main line in England, in order to secure the company's access to Scotland.
The dispute with the LNWR was settled before the Settle and Carlisle was built, but Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
refused to allow the MR to withdraw from the project. The Midland was also under pressure from Scottish railway companies which were eagerly awaiting the Midland traffic reaching Carlisle as it would allow them to challenge the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
's dominance over the west coast rail traffic to Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Glasgow and South Western Railway
Glasgow and South Western Railway
The Glasgow and South Western Railway , one of the pre-grouping railway companies, served a triangular area of south-west Scotland, between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle...
had its own route from Carlisle to Glasgow via Dumfries and Kilmarnock whilst the North British Railway
North British Railway
The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...
had built a line through the Scottish Borders
Waverley Line
The Waverley Line is an abandoned double track railway line that ran south from Edinburgh in Scotland through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders to Carlisle in England. It was built by the North British Railway Company; the first section, from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849. The final section,...
from Carlisle to Edinburgh. The Midland was obliged to go ahead with the new line and the Settle to Carlisle route was completed in 1876.
Later history
By the middle of the decade investment had been paid for; passenger travel was increasing, with new comfortable trains; and the mainstay of the line (goods traffic, particularly minerals) was increasing dramatically.
Allport retired in 1880, to be succeeded by John Noble and then by George Turner. By the new century the quantity of goods, particularly coal, was clogging the network. The Midland passenger service was acquiring a reputation for lateness. Lord Farrar reorganised, at least, the expresses but by 1905 the whole system was so overloaded that no one able to predict when many of the trains would reach their destinations and there were crews spending as much as a whole shift standing at a signal.
At this point Sir Guy Granet
Guy Granet
Sir William Guy Granet, GBE trained as a barrister but became a noted railway administrator, first as general manager of the Midland Railway then as a director-general in the War Office.-Biography:...
took over as General Manager. He introduced a centralised traffic control system, and the locomotive power classifications that became the model for those used by British Rail.
The Midland acquired a number of other lines, including the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway in 1903 and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway is an English railway line linking Fenchurch Street railway station in the City of London with northeast London and the entire length of the northern Thames Gateway area of southern Essex. It is currently known as the Essex Thameside Route by Network Rail...
in 1912. The Midland shared running rights on some lines, but it also developed lines in partnership with other railways, and was involved in more such 'Joint' lines than any other. In partnership with the Great Northern Railway it owned the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway
The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, was a joint railway owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway in eastern England, affectionately known as the 'Muddle and Get Nowhere' to generations of passengers, enthusiasts, and other users.The main line ran from Peterborough to...
to provide connections from the Midlands to East Anglia; the M&GN was the UK's biggest joint railway. The MR also provided motive power for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, and was a one-third partner in the Cheshire Lines Committee
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway...
.
Ships
The Midland railway operated a number of ships from HeyshamHeysham
Heysham is a large coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire, England. Overlooking Morecambe Bay, it is a ferry port with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland. Heysham is the site of two nuclear power stations which are landmarks visible from hills in the surrounding area...
serving Douglas
Douglas, Isle of Man
right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...
and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
.
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | 2,100 | Sold in 1928 to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Scrapped at Preston in November 1936. | |
| 1893 | 1,055 | Bought from Barrow Steam Navigation Co Ltd in 1907. Sold in 1925 to a Greek Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... owner, renamed Nicolaos Togias. Renamed Kephallina in 1933. Sank on 13 August 1941 off the Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... ian coast. |
|
| 1904 | 1,997 | Requisitioned during the First World War for use as a hospital ship Hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones.... . Torpedo Torpedo The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for... ed on 17 April 1917 and sunk. |
|
| 1897 | 1,265 | Sold in 1928 to Bland Line, Gibraltar Gibraltar Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region... , renamed Gibel Dersa. Scrapped in 1949 at Malaga Málaga Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... . |
|
| 1904 | 2,086 | Sold in 1927 to Angleterre-Lorraine-Alsace, renamed Flamand. Scrapped at Altenwerder Altenwerder Altenwerder is a quarter in the Harburg borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In the 1970s the city of Hamburg announced the formal dispossession of all property to build the Container Terminal Altenwerder. The terminal started its operation in 2003. Altenwerder is... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... in 1937. |
|
| 1904 | 2,174 | Requisitioned by the Royal Navy Royal Navy The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service... in 1914 as and converted to an aircraft carrier. Returned to Midland Railway in 1919. Sold to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company in 1920. Requisitioned by the Royal Navy Royal Navy The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service... in 1941 as . Transferred to Ministry of War Transport in 1945. Scrapped in August 1949 at Preston. |
|
| 1905 | 232 | Built as a tug Tugboat A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for... , used for pleasure excursions from Heysham Heysham Heysham is a large coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire, England. Overlooking Morecambe Bay, it is a ferry port with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland. Heysham is the site of two nuclear power stations which are landmarks visible from hills in the surrounding area... to Fleetwood Fleetwood Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era... until the Second World War. Scrapped in 1960. |
Grouping
In 1914 all the railways in the country were taken under the control of the Railway Executive Committee and were paid an amount based on their receipts during 1913. All excursion traffic was cancelled. Passenger service and the steamers across the Irish Sea were limited in order to cater for munitions and troops trains, which at times overwhelmed the system. By the end of the war overcrowded trains were running at only half the prewar mileage. The overworked locomotives had not had the benefit of the prewar standard of maintenance, while many of the staff had never returned from the battlefront.The Midland had not recovered from this when in 1921 the Government passed the Railways Act, with those uncomfortable bedfellows, the Midland and the LNWR, joining the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
, the Caledonian
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
and the Glasgow and South Western Railway
Glasgow and South Western Railway
The Glasgow and South Western Railway , one of the pre-grouping railway companies, served a triangular area of south-west Scotland, between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle...
, along with such lines as the Furness
Furness Railway
The Furness Railway was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England.-History:The company was established on May 23, 1844 when the Furness Railway Act was passed by Parliament...
and the North Staffordshire
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire....
to form the London Midland and Scottish Railway.
Innovation
The Midland pioneered the use of gas lightingGas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
for train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
s in Britain, put third-class carriages on all its trains in 1872, and abolished second class in 1875, giving third-class passengers the level of comfort formerly afforded to second-class passengers (elsewhere some third-class passengers travelled in open wagons). This was an entirely pragmatic move—the second-class seats were not well patronised—but controversial. The railway also introduced the first British Pullman
Pullman train (UK)
Pullman trains in Great Britain were mainline luxury railway services that operated with first-class coaches and a steward service, provided by the British Pullman Car Company.-Origins:...
supplementary-fare cars.
The company was grouped into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
(LMS) on 1 January 1923.
Sources
- Truman, P. and Hunt, D. (1989) Midland Railway Portrait, Sheffield : Platform 5, ISBN 0-906579-72-4
Further reading
- Williams, Frederick SmeetonFrederick Smeeton WilliamsFrederick Smeeton Williams was a minister in the Congregational Church, but is best known for his books on the early history of the railway....
(1876) The Midland railway: its rise and progress, Strahan & Co. - Stretton, Clement Edwin (1901) The History of the Midland Railway available from Microsoft Live Search Books. (It should be noted that Stretton is not considered a reliable source. See http://www.steamindex.com/library/stretton.htm)
- Barnes, E. G. (1966), The rise of the Midland Railway, 1844-1874, London: George Allen and Unwin
- Barnes, E. G. (1969), The Midland main line, 1875-1922, London: George Allen and Unwin, ISBN 0-04-385049-9