The Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust
The S & C Railway Trust go to inordinate lengths to ensure this world famous stretch of railway embraces its heritage perfectly. Their web site has a section on the line’s heritage and anyone with an interest in Midland Railway matters will find their Design Guide invaluable.
Though of course not limited to the Midland Railway, the Cumbrian railway Association includes the Settle & Carlisle railway as well as other part of Midland in their extensive area of interest.
Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust
Arguably much more than a “line society”, given their extensive collection of rolling stock, the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust preserves the memory of this fabled joint venture between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway which ran between Bath and Bournemouth.
This list would not be complete without including our good friends at the Midland Railway — Butterley. Although there is no formal connection between our respective organisations, the shared “Midland Railway” element in our names means we are often confused with one another. Butterley is, of course, renowned for being a heritage railway, but they are also an Accredited Museum with a stunning collection of Midland Railway artefacts, ephemera and documents.
The Signalling Record Society
The SRS have an extensive archive and a Study Centre at Kenilworth, Warwickshire which they share with the London & North Western Railway Society. Our ‘neighbouring’ Line Societies also include, the Lancashire & Yorkshire, the North Staffordshire and the Great Northern Railway, which of course served Derby’s Friargate station among much else.
The Manchester Locomotive Society
Based on Stockport Station and in existence since 1935, this group’s archive, library and photographic collection are all hugely impressive. Whilst there’s naturally a strong north west England bias, their collections and members’ interests span the globe. Anyone interested in the Cheshire Lines Committee (of which the Midland Railway was a constituent) will be well served by the MLS. Their resources are available to their members only, but if that is your interest, the modest annual subscription will be well worth it.
The National Railway Museum
The NRM continue to make more and more of their vast collection available on-line. As such, their Collections Catalogue is well worth spending some time with.
The National Archives
Kew hold a substantial amount of Midland Railway material, including but far from limited to, many staff records and the full set of the various committee minute books. The main sub-reference for the Midland Railway in Discovery – their comprehensive on-line finding aid – is RAIL 491.
Kidderminster Railway Museum
KRM have an extensive collection of photographs covering the entire country, many originating from the Roy F Burrows Midland Collection. You can contact them via their web site.
Picture The Past
This is the North East Midland Photographic Record which holds the combined photographic collections of the local authorities of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Their railway collection is extensive and the web site is well worth exploring.
British Transport Police History Group
Like the pre-grouping railway companies they served, the many railway police forces were “grouped” in 1923. The Midland Railway Police department became part of the LMS Police and subsequently, under the British Transport Commission, the BTP. The rich and varied history these many police forces represent is celebrated by the BTP History Group. This is an excellent source of any information regarding railway, dock and canal policing over the years.
Newton Abbot Railway Studies Collection
Although primarily focussing on the Great Western Railway, the Railway Studies Centre in the Passmore Edwards Centre, operated by Devon Libraries, has a substantial amount of information covering the whole of the UK’s railways. Their web site contains a selection of images from the collection and a link to Devon Libraries’ on line catalogue.
Cambridge University Map Library
It may seem somewhat unlikely, but Cambridge University hold a significant trove Midland Railway Engineer’s Department papers within their. Their friendly and helpful staff will assist in finding these for you, but this search link should return everything they hold for the Midland Railway as a starting point.
Stephen Rabone’s Hellifield micro-site
If you are at all interested in the workings around Hellifield, with the associated link over the Settle & Carlisle, then this collection of pages will be a treasure trove of information for you.
Whatstandwell
The Crich village web site hosts an excellent page containing the memories of A.C.Phillips, a former Station Master there. It is also illustrated with splendid photographs from Mr. Phillips’ album.
Woodlesford
For many years, Midland Railway Society member Howard Benson has been diligently researching every possible aspect of the North Midland Railway station at Woodlesford, south of Leeds. What he has developed is a stunning example of railway and social history preserved in online form.
This is supplemented with a Facebook page.
Note: Use of any organisation’s name or logo is not intended to imply endorsement of any kind.
First published in 1996, this tri-annual publication is free for Members and contains well researched articles covering a wide range of topics. Back copies are available in our shop.
We produce a quarterly Newsletter is available free for Members containing shorter articles and a wide range of information on all aspects of the MR and the Society.
The Study Centre has thousands of photographs. These can be found by searching the Collection database which will display ‘thumbnails’ of relevant images.
Launched in 2023, a magazine devoted to the modelling of all aspects of the MR, its predecessors, successors, and joint lines, in any scale or gauge. It complements the Journal and is available free to Members.
We publish books and pamphlets researched and written by our members. These informative publications, along with relevant material from other publishers is available to purchase for all.
We have an online Discussion Group. This is a forum to ask questions, post information, and stimulate discussion. It is only available for Members. Become a Member and join the conversation.
If there is anything we can help you with or you can suggest or offer, do feel free to get in touch with us.
