The Greatest Gathering Windfall
Last summer, volunteers from the Midland Railway Society were deeply involved in The Greatest Gathering, the unforgettable event hosted by Alstom at Derby’s Litchurch Lane Works as part of the wildly successful Railway200 celebrations. Given that this was the Midland Railway’s Carriage & Wagon Works, we very much regarded ourselves as the Home Team, so […]
The Last Midland Railway Signal
At 22:56 on Thursday 12th March 2026, the last surviving Midland Railway signal on the national network (by an incredibly long margin), Ketton Down Starter – No.14 – was finally abolished. While a few miniature arm MR yard signals survived into the 1980s and 90s, few if any main line signals did so – other […]
Private Jacob Rivers V.C.
Jacob Rivers of Derby gave his life in the most valiant of circumstances at the Battle Neuve Chapelle, 111 years ago today. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Although a professional soldier since 1899, by 1911 he was a Reservist living back home at Derby with his mother. His younger brother, Issac, was a […]
Another Detection of Robbery by the Electric Telegraph.
The Illustrated London News 17 October 1846 Another instance of the utility of the electric telegraph in detecting crime was afforded on Saturday last at Rugby. The following telegraphic despatch was received at the Rugby station from Derby at eight o’clock on Saturday morning :—” Thomas Trotter, from Derby, states that he has been robbed […]
Derby Midland Football Club
(reflections from Dave Harris, Midland Railway Study Centre Coordinator) Numerous railway football teams enjoy long histories (none more so than Newton Heath LYR FC who became Manchester United in 1902) but here is the story of the long defunct Derby Midland FC whose origins will be immediately apparent. The Study Centre assisted in a small […]