The ‘Teams’ link for this weekend’s Members’ Meeting can be found in the Members’ Area.
This website provides a gateway for anyone interested in the places served by the Midland Railway and the people who worked for the Company, as well as its history. You will discover the social and economic impact of the MR, its contribution to architecture and technology and much more. It is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in modelling the Midland.
October is a busy month for the Midland Railway Society. We have our autumn Members’ Meeting at the Museum of Making in Derby this coming weekend, and last weekend we
The Midland Railway Society and Lancaster University are hosting a conference at Lancaster University on 21st Nov. This event is both ‘in-person’ at LUMS Lecture Theatre 1, Lancaster, LA1 4YX or
We are delighted to announce the release of a long-awaited second instalment of our Spirits of the Midland Railway series. The first edition was produced in lieu of a Presidential
The Midland Railway Society has been supporting the City of Derby throughout the summer as the council endeavours to increase footfall in the magnificent and recently refurbished Market Hall. Our
In 1895 it was reported that the Midland Railway owned 22,822 miles of telegraph wires, which during the course of the year, carried 13.2 million messages.
To mark the first full year of the Society’s new web site, we have chosen to make a new resource available for modellers, historians and simply anyone with an interest in the Midland Railway. We are delighted to make a digital version of the Engine Allocation Lists from 1920 available. This was first published in paper form by the Society in 2003 and is based on records collated by the late John True.
With over a year under our belt, we are always interested in looking at how we’re doing with the website.
While we continue to be grateful for the feedback we have received to date, we are still not resting on our laurels and would love to hear what you think.
What sort of subjects would you like to see used in the next refresh of the image carousel at the top of this page, for example?
Have you seen that you can now download a free copy of one of our back issue Journals on the Become a Member page? Why not have a look and see what you get when you join the Midland Railway Society.
The Midland Railway (MR) was formed by the amalgamation of three rival companies in 1844. Over the next eighty years it expanded from its headquarters in Derby to Bristol, Swansea, London, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1923 Britain’s railways were amalgamated into just four companies: the MR was the biggest component of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) with 84,000 employees.
It is interesting to note that while the MR existed for eighty years, its successor the LMS lasted only 25 years until nationalisation in 1948. British Railways (later British Rail) lasted until 1997 when the railways were privatised, and Railtrack became responsible for the infrastructure. Railtrack collapsed in 2001 and responsibility passed to the state-owned Network Rail. Our railways today are in both private and public ownership.
The Midland Railway Society is a partner with Derby Museums in operating the Midland Railway Study Centre in Derby’s ‘Museum of Making’, located in the city’s historic Silk Mill. The Study Centre houses the largest publicly accessible collection of research material relating to the Midland Railway, its constituents and successors and the history of Derby’s railways in general.
If you’ve enjoyed your visit, why not consider becoming a member? Great benefits including high quality journals and more.
In Memory of our former Chairman and Past President, David Brian Hunt, who passed away on 23rd August 2026 aged 79 years.
