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. Visitors are welcome by appointment. We have original documents, maps, drawings, plans and photographs. We have a comprehensive on-line catalogue and a range of ‘Finding Aids’. In addition we have an unrivalled collection of MR objects and ephemera in the Museum.
Thanks to the work of the late Glynn Waite, for many years one of the key figures in the Midland Railway Society, the MRS held its own modest collection of paperwork and ephemera. However, since the merger with the Roy F Burrows Midland Collection Trust, we are proud to be custodians of the nationally renowned Roy F Burrows Collection, housed in the Midland Railway Study Centre at Derby.
Roy was a young boy in the years before the Second World War and so in order to take his son’s mind off world events, Roy’s father gave him some Midland Railway timetables to pore over. Frederick Burrows had been a Porter Signalman on the Midland Railway at Swadlincote before leaving the railway for a career in the newspaper industry, but he evidently hadn’t forgotten his former occupation. The timetables had a profound effect on Roy who spent his adult life amassing what was to be widely regarded as a collection of national importance.
It is the Roy F Burrows Collection, together with Derby Museums’ own substantial collection, that forms the primary holdings of the Midland Railway Study Centre. While we are delighted to see visitors at the Study Centre, you don’t have to come to Derby to make use of our resources. Details of how to use the Study Centre, in person or online, can be found on our own web site through the link above.
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 an 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.
