Midland Railway

The Midland Railway began life in 1844 by the amalgamation of The Midland Counties Railway, North Midland Railway and the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway which were all centered on Derby. It then expanded and acquuired other railway companies until it became the third largest railway in Britain.
When its new Coat of Arms was introduced it had extended enormously. The main line ran from London to Carlisle and south-westward to Bristol and Bath, while through carriages travelled as far as Bournemouth, Torquay, Edinburgh and Glasgow. However, in its Coat of Arms, the Midland kept faithful with its origins. Its crest was the Wyvern of Mercia and the shield incorporated six of the largest centres that the company reached. These were, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Leeds, Leicester and Lincoln.
The expansion from 1844 was both rapid and sustained and the companies bought included the Leicester & Swannington, Birmingham & Gloucester and the broad gauge Gloucester & Bristol.
With no direct route into London, traffic from Derby, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester was routed via Rugby and the London & North Western Railway. As many of these trains were delayed en-route to Euston, the Midland sought and obtained Parliamentary permission to build its own line into London from Bedford its most southerly point. This line along with the magnificent St Pancras Station was completed in 1868.
The previous year (1867) had seen the Midland's route to Manchester, via Matlock, opened along with the one third owned (along with the Great Northern Railway and Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway) Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) route to Liverpool.
The Midland thed concentrated on the north and a direct route of its own to Scotland. Building on the lines it owned in the West Riding of Yorkshire, thec Midland pressed north from Settle to the border city of Carlisle. Running agreements were then made with the Glasgow & South Western Railway and the North British Railway to take expresses onward to Glasgow and Edinburgh repectfully.
Further acquisitions took the Midland into South Wales, Ireland and finally in 1912 it bought the London Tilbury & Southend Railway. Lines were then built to York, between Chinley and Sheffield and to complement its part ownership with the GLC, it jointly purchased the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway with the Great Northern Railway and the Somerset & Dorset Railway with the London & South Western Railway.
The Midland Railways tradition was 'light and fast', regarding the running of its trains, both express and secondary, and especially locomotive design. Matthew Kirtley was the first Locomotive Superintendant, retiring in 1873. He is acknowledged with establishing Derby Works with its excellent reputation for quality of build, the first locomotives being built there in 1851.
Samual Johnson was appointed from the Great Eastern Railway to replace Kirtley and his desighs followed those of his predecessor. Johnson designed some very good 4-4-0s early on and these epitomised the Midland's passenger service for many years to come being - lightweight, fast, reliable and handsome. Due to the small size of their locomotives, the Midland was not afraid of double-heading its trains. Richard Deeley replaced Johnson in 1903 and developed Johnson's last design, a Compound 4-4-0.

Last revised: 9 June 1998