MRS Journal No. 23 (Autumn 2003)

Table of Contents

• Early Accidents on the Midland Railway: 1847 (part 3) / By Chris Rouse
• An American view of Britain’s Railways / By Peter Witts
• Locomotive Aesthetics / By Jack Braithwaite
• The Centenary of the Midland Hotel, Manchester
• First World War Inter-Company Economics
• Beyond the Boundaries (6) / By David Geldard
• Ambulance committee awards 1918 / By Glynn Waite
• Query Corner
  • Query 34 : Which shed is this?
• Comments on Items in Previous Journals
  • Deeley and the 990 class [no.14, p.4; no.21, p.16; no.22 p.21]
  • Early accidents on the Midland Railway : 1847 (part 2) [no.22, p.1]

• Front cover
  Apart from stations, perhaps the most photographed scenes in Midland Railway days were groups of staff. Fortunately, many of these were taken against features that identified the locations, which is therefore of immense help to the historian. In this case, there is no disputing the location — although the official name of the station was actually Pinxton & Selston! While railways were labour intensive in those days, photos of staff tended to exaggerate this feature as many were taken at shift changeover, and perhaps that is the case here. The photograph probably includes both passenger and goods staff. The person seated in the centre is presumably the Station Master. In 1895, the post was occupied by Joseph Mounsey. He was succeeded by a person with the surname Ainge, while W. Tanner is recorded as the SM in 1904. A 1908 trade directory shows the occupant as J. Tanner. This may well have been the same person, although it is not unknown for members of the same family to succeed one another &mdash the Pitts at Rowsley being an example at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1916, the SM was William Henry Pugh while, at the grouping, William Wadeson occupied the post. Those who have made a study of uniforms will be able to tell us when this photograph was taken.
  [G. Waite collection]
• Rear cover
  Chris Rouse’s series on early accidents vividly highlights how dangerous the railways were in their early years. It is clear from this circular, issued fifty years after the formation of the Midland Railway, that accidents still occurred quite frequently. The directors have decided to grant gold and silver medals for employees who give first aid to others ‘in severe cases of accident.’ Interestingly, the employees had to nominate themselves. Details of the awards for the year ending 30th September 1918 are discussed in a separate article in the issue.
  [G. Waite collection]