Midland Railway

“ This line prospered under his six years’ control, and developed into the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway. He was next chosen in 1850 to manage the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, then little more than a branch of the London and North-Western; and three years later, on 1 Oct. 1853, he was appointed general manager of the Midland Railway. At this period the Midland Company only possessed five hundred miles of railroad, consisting of little more than an agglomeration of local lines serving the midland counties, and was in a position of dependence on the London and North-Western. ”

“ Thirteen stationary engines, and about 100 horses, were also employed in drawing the earth and stone out of the shafts. Its entire length is 2869 yards, or nearly a mile and three quarters, exceeding the famous Kilsby Tunnel by 471 yards.
The Midland Railway was a favorite line of Mr. Stephenson's for several reasons. It passed through a rich mining district, in which it opened up many valuable coal-fields, and it formed part of the great main line of communication between London and Edinburg. The line was originally projected by gentlemen interested in the London and Birmingham Railway. ”

“ A railway mania had seized those with money to spare, and quite a fevered gambling took place. In one year, 1846, 272 Acts were passed for new lines. At that time there were several Midland Companies—the Midland Counties, the North Midland, the West Midland—all later absorbed in the Midland. There were two North Westerns—the London & North Western and the "Little" North Western. The competition for towns and routes was of a bitter and remorseless character, and contract work was rushed. ”

“ Pancras to Nottingham in a luxurious restaurant car may imagine that the Midland Railway is designed and administered for his benefit and comfort. But that is an illusion of the unreflecting citizen. The truth is, that the luxurious restaurant car is itself a bye-product of the coal traffic. In the eyes of the representative railway engineer the cities of England are, primarily just the terminal yards of the collieries; and the citizens themselves, according to his ethical scheme, rank in status and civic worth in proportion to the capacity of their respective factory furnaces. ”

“ On the first day of October, 1868, the first passenger train ran into Saint Pancras station, and the Midland competition for London traffic now began in earnest, and from that time onward helped to develop those magnificent rival passenger train services between the Metropolis and England’s busy centres and between England and Scotland and Ireland, which, for luxury, speed and comfort, stand pre-eminent. Prior to this, the Midland access to London had been by the exercise of running powers over the Great Northern Railway from Hitchin to King’s Cross. ”

“ The Midland Railway has a magnificent terminus in the Euston Road, and a junction with the Metropolitan line. It has already more than 800 miles open.
Great Northern Railway has its terminus at King’s Cross—a building more remarkable for novelty than for beauty. This company, a severe competitor to some of older date, has few stations near London; but the directness of the line of railway renders it important as an outlet to the north. A good hotel is contiguous to the terminus. The goods’ depôt has become famous for the vast quantity of coal brought to the metropolis. ”

“ The line from Fremantle to Midland Junction was duplicated in 1896-7. The Midland Railway was practically completed in November, 1894. The land grant railway from Beverley to Albany was purchased by the Government for £1,100,000 in December, 1896, and was formally taken over on 8th January, 1897, by the Premier, accompanied by a large number of leading persons. Telegraph lines were erected to serve all the centres of population of any dimensions, and it might be said that the huge territory is buckled with the electric current. ”

“ The railways themselves, radiating from the great centres of population, and especially from London, are only in a few instances much affected by configuration. The Pennine Chain has always separated the traffic from south to north into an east coast route through the Vale of York, and a west coast route by the Lancashire plain. The Midland railway, running through the high and rugged country between the two, was the last to be constructed. ”

“ Communications.—The main line of the Midland railway serves Market Harborough, Leicester, and Loughborough, having an important junction at Trent (on that river) for Derby and Nottingham. Branches radiate from Leicester to Melton Mowbray, to Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Moira and Burton-upon-Trent, with others through the mining district of the N.W., which is also served by the branch of the London & North-Western railway from Nuneaton to Market Bosworth, Coalville and Loughborough. ”

“ He was so satisfied of its value, that, at a meeting of the York and North Midland proprietors, he volunteered his gratuitous services as engineer until the company was formed, in addition to subscribing largely to the undertaking. At that meeting he took an opportunity of referring to the charges brought against engineers of so greatly exceeding the estimates: "He had had a good deal to do with making out the estimate of the North Midland Railway, and he believed there never was a more honest one. He had always endeavored to state the truth as far as was in his power. ”

“ The Western Australian railways now extend for about 2,500 miles through the State, and, in addition, private enterprise is represented by the Midland Railway Company, which runs from a point 10 miles out of Perth northwards for 276 miles to Walkaway, whence Geraldton is reached by a Government line. In addition, there are numerous short roads belonging to companies working the resources of the country, especially of timber, but one and all have adopted the narrow 31⁄2 feet gauge so as to secure uniformity and intercommunication. ”

“ The Midland Railway tunnelled under the hills at a height of eight hundred feet above sea-level, and descended rapidly to Stockport by the Goyt valley. The Great Northern enters Cheshire by the tunnel near Penistone, and follows the Etherow down Longdendale till it also reaches Stockport. The Staffordshire Railway from the Potteries burrows through the hills at Harecastle on its way to Congleton and Macclesfield. All these railways vied with one another in quickening the speed of their trains, and their rivalry soon caused the fares for passengers and rates for goods to become cheaper. ”

“ Under powers obtained from parliament in 1896, the Midland Railway Company constructed, and opened in 1904, a harbour, enclosed by breakwaters, for the development of traffic with Belfast and other Irish ports, a daily passenger-service of the first class being established to Belfast. The harbour has a depth at low tide of 17 ft., and extensive accommodation for live-stock and goods of all kinds is provided. ”

“ I chose the route along the Midland Railway, as it is called, because on its expected completion next year it will supply reasonable means of communication and transit to a vast area of excellent agricultural land, which has been locked up from settlement since 1886, under the arrangements for the construction of the railway on the land grant system entered into between the Government of Western Australia and what was known as the Waddington syndicate in England. ”

“ Allport, “it is impossible that you can reconcile the interests of these two great companies on the same railway; we are always only second-best.” Second-best certainly never suited the ambitious policy of the Midland, and so the offer was rejected, and their line to London made. It was at that time thought that the Midland headquarters would be removed from Derby to London, and I remember how excited the clerical staff and their wives and sweethearts were at the prospect. ”

“ An Act to empower the Midland Railway Company to construct a Harbour at Heysham in Morecambe Bay to confer additional powers upon the Midland Railway Company and the Midland and Great Northern Railways Joint Committee for the construction of works and the acquisition of lands and for other purposes. ”

“ When Government inspectors were first appointed by the Board of Trade to examine and report upon the working of railways, they were alarmed by the number of trains following each other at some stations, in what then seemed to be a very rapid succession. A passage from a Report written in 1840 by Sir Frederick Smith, as to the traffic at “Taylor’s Junction,” on the York and North Midland Railway, contrasts curiously with the railway life and activity of the present day:—“Here,” wrote the alarmed Inspector, “the passenger trains from York as well as Leeds and Selby, meet four times a day. ”

“ In the United Kingdom it is now possible to travel by every train, with very few exceptions, and in many cases to have the use of restaurant cars, for 1d. a mile or less, and the money obtained from third-class travellers forms by far the most important item in the revenue from passenger traffic. Since the Midland railway’s action in 1875 several other English companies have abandoned second-class carriages either completely or in part, and in Scotland they are entirely unknown. ”

“ Well, these Parliamentary proceedings, arbitration cases, and light railway adventures were, after all, only interludes, and I can conscientiously say that the Midland line and its needs and interests were never neglected. I am one of those who always believed that everything which served to enlarge experience and mature judgment made a man more competent for his daily work. ”

“ Electricity is used for suburban traffic. By tunnel from the Once station, freight is carried to the port, being by so much ahead of New York. With the Great Southern, the Western has leased the Midland Railway from Buenos Aires to Carhue, 320 miles. In 1912-13 the road carried over 7,000,000 head of live stock, nearly 3,000,000 tons of freight, and 1,000,000 passengers. Wheat, maize, hay, and other agricultural products are the bulk of the freight. ”

“ Many of the lines in Ireland serving districts where population is scanty, traffic meagre, and trains consequently infrequent, could well have been spared the costly outlay which the Act involved. Three or four trains each way per day represent the train service on many of these small railways, and some of the sections of the larger lines warrant little more. Take, for instance, the case of the Midland Great-Western. On 330 out of its 538 miles not more than six trains each way in the 24 hours are required, and they could probably be reduced without hurting anyone. ”

“ On the London & North-Western there are more than sixty through down trains, taking no account of local trains, each day passing over the same line of tracks, among which are express trains which stop nowhere, way trains which stop everywhere, express-freight, way-freight, mineral trains and parcel trains. On the Midland road there are nearly twice as many similar trains on each track. On the Metropolitan railway the average interval is three and one-third minutes between trains. ”

“ Allport, the General Manager of the Midland Railway, to whom we gladly acknowledge ourselves indebted for much valuable information most obligingly afforded, says that the passenger trains are timed to run in each direction through the Dove’s Hole Tunnel 2,420 feet long at the same rate of speed, and actually do run at that speed—nearly 46 miles an hour,—yet the gradient is 1 in 90, or 582⁄3 feet per mile. The same for goods trains, their speed is 23 miles an hour in each direction, and Mr. ”

“ The gradients of the railway form of course a most important factor in the question of speed. The Midland has one of the hardest roads in England for steep slopes, yet its magnificent engines bring its heavy trains from Leicester, 993⁄4 miles in 122 minutes. ”

“ The chairman approved, the meeting roared with excitement, and early next day I proposed my grand scheme to John Fox Bell, the resident secretary of the Midland Counties Railway Company. Mr. Paget, of Loughborough, opened his park for a gala, and on the day appointed about five hundred passengers filled some twenty or twenty-five open carriages—they were called ‘tubs’ in those days—and the party rode the enormous distance of eleven miles and back for a shilling, children half-price. We carried music with us, and music met us at the Loughborough station. ”

“ It was to be worked and maintained by the West Midland, Shrewsbury and Coast of Wales Railway Co.; the prospects of mineral and passenger traffic were “most promising,” and throughout its entire length of 90 miles, the promoters pointed out with all the emphasis which italics can afford, “it has only one tunnel, and that slightly exceeding a mile and half in length.” ”

“ In the task he undertook this was very likely desirable, and once acquired he was not the man to let such power slip from his grasp. His strong hands would firmly retain whatever they wished to hold.
In 1865 no less than 15 directors adorned the Midland Great Western Board, twice too many no doubt the chairman thought for a railway of 344 miles. In 1867 they were reduced to 8; in 1877 to 7; since when they have never numbered more. During the long period of Sir Ralph’s occupancy of the chair no deputy chairman existed. The chairman reigned alone. ”

“ In those early days the finances of the country were at a very low ebb, and the engineer was forced to carry his track through the hilly country with the minimum of earthwork. The result was that curves so sharp as 88 feet radius were adopted.
The Upper Darling Range railway also deserves more than passing notice. It leaves Midland junction at the foot of the hills, and 10 miles from Perth. The precipitous character of the spurs so puzzled the engineer that he was driven to imitate the method of extrication from a difficulty of this description practised in New South Wales. ”