The Midland Railway (HB)
To present-day railway enthusiasts the Midland Railway is probably best remembered for its belief in small engines - many of them - and double-heading where necessary, as the most economic locomotive development policy. Out of this grew an attractive line of single-driver and four-coupled express locomotives, topped by the celebrated Midland compounds.
Few may now remember also that the Midland was, by the end of the pre-Grouping era in 1922, the third largest railway in Great Britain in terms of mileage. Formed in 1844 by an amalgamation of the Midland Counties, the North Midland and the Birmingham & Derby Railways, by the end of its career it had pushed train services from its centre at Derby to London, Bristol, Manchester, Carlisle, Lincoln and Swansea, and over jointly-owned lines to Bournemouth and into East Anglia. Its growth continued into the 20th Century with the acquisition of the Belfast & North Counties Railway in 1903 and the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway in 1912. In all its operations, the Midland was a system full of character, fully brought out in this lively memoir by Hamilton Ellis.
Hardback, 184 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good - some wear to DJ and a little foxing to EP
ISBN: 9780711005518
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