Monument record MDR12289 - Midland Counties Railway, Derby to Nottingham route, Derby and Erewash

Of the three initial railways at Derby, the first to be opened was the Midland Counties Railway to Nottingham on June 4 1839. Immediately revenue was good, with an average of 590 passengers, mostly second class, being carried daily. The line left Derby to the north before curving south-east past Chaddesden to Spondon. While the Midland remained a provincial railway this route did not matter, but with the London extension (opened 1868) and the completion of the Peak Forest line (1867) came the prospect of through Midland trains from London to Manchester. Reversal at Derby would be inconvenient, so a connecting line was opened from Spondon in 1867 [see SMR 32658]. Afterwards only a few regular passenger services used the Chaddesden line, the main ones being fast Manchester expresses and the Tamworth-Lincoln night mail. Lincoln-Derby trains also ran that way until dieselised, to avoid reversal in Derby station. Otherwise it became a goods line, with an important general freight marshalling yard developing at Chaddesden [see SMR 32646]. (1)