Trains at: Derby, MML, 24/10/25

A very windy and cold morning spent at Derby on the Midland Mainline where we see plenty of services from East Midlands Railway and Cross Country. Derby has a vat history behind it but I'll try and keep it as brief as possible. Derby had a station opened by the Midland Counties Railway in 1839 and at the time was even known as a temporary station as plans had already been drawn up for a more contemporary station at a later date. Then in the very same year another temporary station was opened by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and then one year later another railway station was opened in 1840 and would be the permanent Derby station forcing the other two to close. This was opened by the North Midland Railway. In 1844 all three railway companies became part of the Midland Railway with the headquarters located at Derby. The North Midlands Railway repair shop and two locomotive sheds became the Midlands main locomotives works as the facilities were already on offer to them. In 1846 a new spur line was constructed which would allow traffic to run onto the network from the Midland Counties Line, and in 1867 a loop was constructed which would let trains run through the station coming up from London. The station was given some work in 1858 to increase the capacity, an island platform was created along with the present platforms 2 and 3. In 1881 more work was done which saw the introduction of 3 new platforms, these three new platforms were 260 metres long and 45ft wide. There was a level crossing which gave access to platform one but this was removed and instead replaced by a footbridge linking across all of the platforms. New waiting rooms and refreshment rooms were also installed along with a subway which would allow for luggage to pass under the station much easier than it had been able to do in the past. Additionally all of the signalling for the station and the surrounding area was done by a complex signal box located on the centre platform in the middle of the station. When it was time for British Railways to come into the light the station was renamed to Derby Midland Station and between the years of 1952 to 1954 the station was completely rebuilt along with the signal box giving it a more modern image for that time of the year. The overall costing for this project back then was £200,000 which in today's money is just a little over £5.6 million. In 1968 the station was once again renamed and this time it was renamed Derby to all timetables across the UK and destination boards, the following year power signalling was introduced which would allow for trains to enter and leave the station in any direction, much like they do today and of which you will see happening with the Cross Country Turbostars. However I should point out that this is only being done because the line at the northern end of the station going to Spondon Junction via Chaddesden was closed during that time. My next station is Long Eaton. You can find me on Facebook through the group Tornado922, there you will find regular updates, videos and photos from all of my goings on throughout 2025. You can find me on Instagram through the name tornado922 where it isn't just rail related content that I produce. You can find me on TikTok under the name Tornado_922