The Great Railway Speculations: Volume 2: The Expansion of the Midland Railway Network in England 1848-1860

The establishment of the core railway network in the Midlands by the mid-nineteenth century led to further expansion and the creation of four principal operators: Great Northern Railway, Great Western Railway, London & North Western Railway and the Midland Railway.A host of new independent companies also appeared and various joint lines and railways remained under independent ownership, but the operation of trains was in the hands of one of these four main concerns. It was a period marked by intense rivalries, especially between the Great Western Railway, a broad-gauge operator, and the other companies which operated on standard gauge.In a short-term compromise, the mixed gauge was created, enabling the Great Western Railway to reach the West Midlands.Mergers and amalgamations were another key aspect of the period, with authorised routes being continually absorbed by the principal operators.Their shareholders profited from these takeovers, but there were plenty of schemes in which inve