page_title: Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
section_title: Derbyshire and Staffordshire
hierarchical_section_title: Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) / Derbyshire and Staffordshire
caption_attribution_description: English: Bennerley Viaduct near Ilkeston, Derbyshire is one of only two surviving wrought iron railway viaducts in the United Kingdom.
context_page_description: The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In doing so it overextended itself financially.
  Nevertheless, it succeeded in reaching into the coalfields of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, as well as establishing dominance in Lincolnshire and North London. Bringing coal south to London was dominant, but general agricultural business and short and long distance passenger traffic were important activities. Its fast passenger express trains captured the public imagination, and its Chief Mechanical Engineer Nigel Gresley became a celebrity.
  Anglo-Scottish travel on the East Coast Main Line became commercially important; the GNR controlled the line from London to Doncaster and allied itself with the North Eastern Railway and the North British Railway so as to offer seamless travel facilities.
  The main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" following the Railways Act 1921 into one or other of four new larger concerns.
context_section_description: Frustrated by Midland Railway obstruction of GNR access to coal traffic, the GNR decided to build its own line from Colwick, east of Nottingham, through to the Derbyshire coalfields. The line circled round the north of Nottingham and then west to Kimberley, before it struck north to Pinxton, in the Erewash Valley, opening in 1875, followed by a westward line through Derby and on from there to a junction with the North Staffordshire Railway at Egginton, giving access to Burton on Trent. This line opened in 1878.
  The terrain crossed at the Nottingham end of the line was exceptionally difficult, and costly, but it undoubtedly paid off, as lucrative coal traffic expanded enormously. Colwick was made a distribution and marshalling centre for the GNR's Derbyshire colliery traffic. A large group of sorting sidings were installed, and engine shed and wagon repair facilities; the Colwick yard was expanded repeatedly over later years, eventually having a capacity for 6,000 vehicles. The GNR had given the London and North Western Railway running powers over the Derbyshire lines, and this proved extremely profitable for the LNWR, which made a connection over the Great Northern and LNWR joint line.
  By contrast the line beyond Derby was agricultural, and correspondingly more moderate commercially, but through freight on the line towards Burton was considerable. The construction of the line through Derby caused considerable demolition of housing, but the station was more central than the Midland station.
  Not far from Egginton, near the western extremity of the line, was the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway. The GNR purchased the S&UR for £100,000 in 1882; it was a moribund company, and the purchase was not advantageous.
  Road competition hit the part of the extension line west of Derby, and in 1939 the passenger service was withdrawn because of the war emergency.
  Coalowners in the Leen Valley petitioned the GNR for a line in their area, as they were dissatisfied with the service offered by the monopoly Midland Railway. The Leen Valley line was opened from Bulwell to Annesley in 1881, soon conveying extraordinary volumes of coal. Pits further north wanted a connection too, and this was supplied by the Leen Valley Extension line, opened from 1898.
caption: Bennerley viaduct in 2010
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