Books on the Midland Railway

[Maybach]

Can anyone recommend the best book(s) on the Midland Railway? And when I say the Midland Railway, I mean the old pre-Grouping Midland Railway (1844-1922). I'm ideally looking for a good general overview/history. A quick trawl through amazon suggests that it might be a toss-up between C. Hamilton Ellis and Roy Williams.

 

[swanhill41]

There are a few titles back in the 1960/1970s which maybe of interest...The Rise of the Midland Railway 1844-1874..Pub 1966 No ISBN & The Midland Main Line 1875-1922 Pub 1969
ISBN 043850499 maybe interest to you..There are others in particular David & Charles title The Midland Railway North of Leeds Pub ISBN 0175388528...All are text based ,not pretty pictures!

PM me if you want further info

 

[John Webb]

For a very detailed look at the Midland Railway there is John Gough's "The Midland Railway - a Chronology" published 1989 by the Railway and Canal Historical Society ISBN 0-901461-12-1. Runs right up to near the date of publication and has numerous track diagrams but no photos.
There are a number of the Middleton Press books on various parts of the MR, lots of pictures but less detail on the history.

C Hamilton Ellis's book is OK but is a little dated (published in 1966). An interesting view of the history of the MR is found in "Midland Style" written by George Dow and published in 1978 (second edition) by the Historical Model Railway Society (ISBN 0 902835 02 5). This looks at the changes in the MR's stations, signalling, locos and rolling stock etc. over the years and to a degree what prompted them.

 

[etr221]

There are a few titles back in the 1960/1970s which maybe of interest...The Rise of the Midland Railway 1844-1874..Pub 1966 No ISBN & The Midland Main Line 1875-1922 Pub 1969
ISBN 043850499 maybe interest to you..

Both these are by E. G. (Eric George) Barnes; and ISTR had a good reputation when published. C Hamilton Ellis 'The Midland Railway' goes back (originally) to 1953.

I have also found reference to 'Midland Railway - Its Rise & Progress to 1888' by Williams FS, David & Charles Reprint 1968 0 7153 4253 3; and 'History of Midland Railway' by Stretton, pub Methuen, 1901, which might be worth trying to track down.

 

[midland1]

The two books by Ellis and Williams, Ellis is the best also the two books by Barnes he is good on train operations in the second vol. There is also Midland Railway Locos. 4 vols. by Summerson, also An Illustrated Review of Midland Locos. by Essery and Jenkinson 4 vols. also by those two there is Midland Carriages, and lastly Midland Railway Carriages 2vol. by Lacy and Dow.

 

[Mollington St]

Been sorting a box of Railway Histories and the like today , see what is in it that might be of interest - There is one of the mentioned Midland Railway publications
All are just £5 each plus postage , and if its a copy with out its Dust jacket then just £3
Hope that might help

 

[Gloster]

An Illustrated History of Midland Wagons, R.J.Essery, OPC, 1980 (both volumes). Volume One, ISBN 0 86093 040 8. Volume Two, ISBN 86093 041 6 (I suspect that there should be an initial 0.)

 

[Western Sunset]

"The Midland Railway: A Chronology" by K. Hamilton Ellis - This book provides a chronological overview of the events associated with the Midland Railway, helping to understand its development and history.

Do you mean the book by John Gough with the same title? If so, that's a "must-have".