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Erewash Valley line
The Erewash Valley Line is a railway line in England, running from Long Eaton, between Nottingham and Derby, and Clay Cross, near Chesterfield. The southern part was opened by the Midland Railway in 1847 as far as Codnor Park, where it connected to established ironworks, and soon after, a line to Pinxton and Mansfield.
It linked numerous collieries and ironstone pits, and encouraged the development of the so-called "concealed" Nottinghamshire coalfield, where the coal measures were below a thick limestone stratum. The line was extended north to Clay Cross, on the way to Chesterfield, in 1861, and in doing so formed an alternative through southward route. Congestion on the Midland Railway was a grave problem, and the line enabled diversion of some goods and mineral traffic. Large marshalling yards were developed at Toton, at the southern end of the line, to handle the huge volume of coal traffic.
The Erewash Valley Line continues in use at the present day.
For centuries there have been colliery workings in the Erewash Valley of Nottinghamshire. The difficulty with a heavy and bulky commodity was conveying it to market over poor roads. That market was in Leicester, which at the time the supreme industrial centre in the district. In the latter half of the eighteenth century canals and navigable rivers became a viable means of transport.
Nottinghamshire coalowners had become used to supplying Leicester, due to the convenience of the navigable River Soar. This had become a lucrative business, until the opening of the Leicester and Swannington Railway in 1832 gave cheaper access to the West Leicestershire collieries, to the detriment of Nottinghamshire. In the 1836 session of Parliament the Midland Counties Railway was promoted, to run from Nottingham and Derby, through Leicester to Rugby. At Rugby it would join the London and Birmingham Railway, giving access to London. The Nottingham and Derby arms would come together at Long Eaton, and there was to be a northwards branch from there to the collieries at Pinxton, up the Erewash Valley. The promoters let it be known that they intended to extend that line later, to join the North Midland Railway at Chesterfield. The NMR and the MCR were competitors, and this announcement alarmed the NMR, as it would take much of its traffic away, and it vigorously opposed the parliamentary bill.
Most of the finance for the line was to come from Liverpool commercial interests, and the turmoil alarmed them. Not wanting an expensive parliamentary battle, they insisted that the Pinxton branch be dropped from the MCR scheme. The Midland Counties Railway was authorised, without the Pinxton branch, on 21 June 1836.
The Midland Railway was formed by the Midland Railway (Consolidation) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. xviii) of 10 May, by the amalgamation of the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway. This brought together a considerable network of railways, that had hitherto been competitors and were now allies.
Some of the Nottinghamshire coal owners now revived their scheme for a railway connection from Pinxton. Instead of connecting into the former Midland Counties line they decided to form an independent Erewash Valley Railway Company, to run from Pinxton to the Midland Railway at Long Eaton. The Midland board were alarmed at this; the rich mineral workings of the Erewash Valley would be under the control of another company; moreover an extension north to Clay Cross would form a new, shorter route and abstract from their own main line: exactly the same issue that had vexed the North Midland Railway in 1836.
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Erewash Valley line AI simulator
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Erewash Valley line
The Erewash Valley Line is a railway line in England, running from Long Eaton, between Nottingham and Derby, and Clay Cross, near Chesterfield. The southern part was opened by the Midland Railway in 1847 as far as Codnor Park, where it connected to established ironworks, and soon after, a line to Pinxton and Mansfield.
It linked numerous collieries and ironstone pits, and encouraged the development of the so-called "concealed" Nottinghamshire coalfield, where the coal measures were below a thick limestone stratum. The line was extended north to Clay Cross, on the way to Chesterfield, in 1861, and in doing so formed an alternative through southward route. Congestion on the Midland Railway was a grave problem, and the line enabled diversion of some goods and mineral traffic. Large marshalling yards were developed at Toton, at the southern end of the line, to handle the huge volume of coal traffic.
The Erewash Valley Line continues in use at the present day.
For centuries there have been colliery workings in the Erewash Valley of Nottinghamshire. The difficulty with a heavy and bulky commodity was conveying it to market over poor roads. That market was in Leicester, which at the time the supreme industrial centre in the district. In the latter half of the eighteenth century canals and navigable rivers became a viable means of transport.
Nottinghamshire coalowners had become used to supplying Leicester, due to the convenience of the navigable River Soar. This had become a lucrative business, until the opening of the Leicester and Swannington Railway in 1832 gave cheaper access to the West Leicestershire collieries, to the detriment of Nottinghamshire. In the 1836 session of Parliament the Midland Counties Railway was promoted, to run from Nottingham and Derby, through Leicester to Rugby. At Rugby it would join the London and Birmingham Railway, giving access to London. The Nottingham and Derby arms would come together at Long Eaton, and there was to be a northwards branch from there to the collieries at Pinxton, up the Erewash Valley. The promoters let it be known that they intended to extend that line later, to join the North Midland Railway at Chesterfield. The NMR and the MCR were competitors, and this announcement alarmed the NMR, as it would take much of its traffic away, and it vigorously opposed the parliamentary bill.
Most of the finance for the line was to come from Liverpool commercial interests, and the turmoil alarmed them. Not wanting an expensive parliamentary battle, they insisted that the Pinxton branch be dropped from the MCR scheme. The Midland Counties Railway was authorised, without the Pinxton branch, on 21 June 1836.
The Midland Railway was formed by the Midland Railway (Consolidation) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. xviii) of 10 May, by the amalgamation of the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway. This brought together a considerable network of railways, that had hitherto been competitors and were now allies.
Some of the Nottinghamshire coal owners now revived their scheme for a railway connection from Pinxton. Instead of connecting into the former Midland Counties line they decided to form an independent Erewash Valley Railway Company, to run from Pinxton to the Midland Railway at Long Eaton. The Midland board were alarmed at this; the rich mineral workings of the Erewash Valley would be under the control of another company; moreover an extension north to Clay Cross would form a new, shorter route and abstract from their own main line: exactly the same issue that had vexed the North Midland Railway in 1836.