Birmingham-Derby: Portrait of a Famous Route

The story of this route throughout the steam era is covered in some detail. . The Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway which received Royal Assent in 1836 played an important part in north to west communications, linking with the North Midland Derby to Leeds; the Midland Counties Derby and Nottingham to Rugby; and the Birmingham & Gloucester. It formally opened in August 1839, though the journey involved utilising the London & Birmingham Railway from Birmingham Curzon Street to Hampton where reversal for Derby took place. The early years were difficult with competition from the shorter Midland Counties route cutting into the B& D J s Derby - Hampton - London traffic. It was February 1842 before the B & D J opened the section from Whitacre to Stechford and Birmingham Lawley Street, thus avoiding the reversal, and 1854 before it started running into Birmingham New Street station. Informative captions enhance the pictures of all this activity, covering not just the trains and varied motive power in steam days, but also all the stations, plus signal boxes, freight yards etc, giving a good account of the line s fortunes over the years. Around 120 black and white photos and illustrations.