Encyclopedia > Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a Britishrailway company. In 1844 with the encouragement of George Hudson, it merged with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway to form the Midland Railway. 1844 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... George Hudson (March, 1800 - December 14, 1871), English railway financier, known as the railway king. ... The North Midland Railway was a British railway company. ... The Midland Counties Railway (MCR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1832 and 1844. ... The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed from 1844 to 1922. ...
At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and DerbyJunctionRailway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station.
Nevertheless, the terrain was more difficult than for the other two railways to Derby, requiring 200 bridges and seven tunnels, and an aqueduct for the railway to pass underneath the Cromford Canal.
From the start, there was intense competition between the Birmingham and DerbyJunctionRailway and the Midland Counties Railway for traffic into London George Hudson, who was an investor in the two railways, and, by now, also chairman of the NMR, encouraged them to merge, forming the Midland Railway.
The Derby Canal had been opened in 1793 but, due to financial restrictions placed on it by Parliament, and the complex local politics of the day it had not been a resounding success.
Meanwhile financiers in Birmingham, including G.C.Glyn, a banker and chairman of the London and BirminghamRailway, were looking to expand their system.
In 1846 a north facing spur, (Derby North Junctiom) was added from the Midland Counties line, which explains to the bewildered railway historian why both are to the north of the complex and, what nowadays would be considered the major junction, to the south, added by the Midland Railway in 1867, is called London Road.
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