Journal 34 — Spring 2007

Table of Contents

  • Early Accidents on the Midland Railway: 1849 (The First Four Months) / By Chris Rouse
  • Cwm Twrch Urchaf / By John Miles
  • Munitions Work at Derby Locomotive Works / By Peter Witts
  • Midland Railway Heavy Transport / By Ian Howard
  • Locomotive Aesthetics / By Jack Braithwaite
  • The Unsuccessful Railways of Hertfordshire / By Andrew Surry
  • Query Corner
    • Query 45: A Special From Skipton / By Roger Brettle
    • Query 47: The Dronfield Move / By Paul Walpole
    • Query 48: Location identified as Syston North Junction / By Giles Brown, Ian Gibson & Andrew Moore
    • Query 49: G&SWR 0-6-2 tanks in the East Midlands / By Keith Miles
    • Query 51: Location identified as just south of Leicester / By Giles Brown, Andrew Moore, Clive Kirkland, Tony Overton & Charles Terry
    • New Query 52: Platform 2c at Sheffield Station
    • New Query 53: Where is this location?
    • New Query 54: More at Leicester
    • New Query 55: Is this a Midland carriage?
    • New Query 56: What is this carriage?
  • Front cover

    Front cover

    This superb image of women munitions workers in Derby Locomotive Works Paint Shop is taken from a booklet produced by the Midland Railway Company to acknowledge its contribution to the war effort. You will find the main caption to this photograph with the rest of the images and Peter Witts’ captions starting on page 8.

    [Graham Timson collection]

  • Rear cover

    Rear cover

    Our back cover picks up the theme of the Midland railway in 1849 that is covered by Chris Rouse’s article on accidents on the Midland Railway during the first four months of that year. This is the cover of the 11-page proceedings of the tumultuous half-yearly meeting of the Midland Railway Proprietors that took place on 15th February 1849. A group of shareholders had realised that the way that George Hudson had presented the accounts lacked the fullness and clarity that they needed. Even though Hudson managed to persuade the meeting to provide him with a vote of confidence, his position as the Chairman of the Midland Railway was no longer tenable, and, nine weeks later, he resigned in a letter to the respectable and responsible Deputy Chairman, John Ellis. Ellis was subsequently to see the Midland through the treacherous storms of the next ten years until his resignation in 1858, accepted by the Directors ‘with deep regret.’ By then, the company was ready to take on the massive expansion that, during the next 15 years, made it one of the world’s great railway enterprises.

    [Ian Howard collection]