Midland Railway - Consolidation

Consolidation

Almost immediately it took over the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway and the Erewash Valley Line in 1845, the latter giving access to the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coalfields. It absorbed the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway in 1847, building a connection of the latter between Chesterfield and Trent Junction at Long Eaton, finally completed to Chesterfield in 1862, the Erewash Valley Line, giving access to the coalfields that would become its major source of income. Passengers from Sheffield continued to use Masborough until a direct route was completed in 1870.

Meanwhile it extended its influence in the Leicestershire coalfields, firstly by buying the Leicester and Swannington Railway in 1846, then extending it to Burton in 1849.