- Crewe Coal & Iron CompanyBiographyBiography
Known to have been active c1867.
- Minera Lime CompanyBiographyBiography
Lime quarrying company based at Minera in Wrexham, Wales. The company was established in 1852, and became a limited company in 1865. . The total output from the Minera area quarries was estimated, in 1859, to be around 300,000 tons, with 200,000 tons of this converted to lime.
The limeworks closed in 1972 and the Wrexham and Minera Branch railway lines were pulled up at around the same time.
- Norwegian State RailwaysBiographyBiography
State owned railway company that operated most of the railway network in Norway.
- Midland Railway CoBiographyBiography
The Midland Railway was formed in 1844 from the merger of the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway and Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway wit its headquarters in Derby. It expanded its operational territory by acquisition (e.g. railways in the Erewash valley, to Sheffield, serving the Leicestershire coalfields and the route from Birmingham to Bristol), and by construction of new railways and extensions to existing lines, including lines to Peterborough and Lincoln, towards Manchester and, most notably the Settle to Carlisle route. It expanded into the South Wales coalfields, and acquired railways not connected to its main routes: the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway and, in Ireland, the Belfast and Northern Counties Railways. Much of this activity was driven by competition with its geographical rivals, the London and North Western Railway to the west and the Great Northern Railway to the east.
Where its interests were better served by co-operation, it tried to reach agreements with those same companies to share routes and traffic receipts. The most famous of these is the Euston Square Confederation, an agreement between the Midland Railway, the London and North Western Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Other such arrangements were the Cheshire Lines Committee and the right to run over the Great Northern Railway into King’s Cross station.
The arrangements for through running and sharing of London termini with its competitors proved unsatisfactory. As a consequence the Midland Railway eventually built its own connection to London. The line ran from Bedford on the Midland’s existing Leicester to Hitchin line, to a terminus at St Pancras. It was opened in 1868. The Midland Railway was a partner in several joint railways e.g. the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (with the London and South Western Railway), and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (the Great Northern Railway).
The Midland Railway came under the control of the Railway Executive during the First World War and ended its independent existence in 1923 under Grouping when it was merged with, amongst other railway companies, its great rival the London and North Western Railway to form the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company.
- Netherlands-India RailwayBiographyBiography
Railway company known in Dutch as Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij, abbreviated to NIS. Also known as the Dutch East Indies Railway Company. Established in 1863, the company was in charge of rail transport in Java, Dutch East Indies.
- Ceylon Government RailwaysBiographyBiography
Ceylon Government Railways (CGR) was developed in the 1850s to develop and unify Sri Lanka and was built by the British Colonial Government in 1864. The first train ran on 27 December 1864 and the main line between Colombo and Ambepussa officially opened on 2nd October 1865. The railway was initially built to transport tea and coffee to Colombo. Major population growth meant that passenger traffic increased and in the 1960s passenger traffic overtook freight as the main source of revenue. The railway network comprised of nine lines radiating from Colombo and connected many population centres and tourist destinations. Extensions were made to the main line in 1867, 1874, 1885, 1894 and 1924, extending its service to Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Nanu Oya, Bandarawela and Badulla, respectively. Many other railway lines were added to Ceylon Railway System within the first century of its life, such as a line to Matale in 1880, Coast Railway Line in 1895, Northern Line in 1905, Mannar Line in 1914, Kelani Valley in 1919, Puttalam Line in 1926, and Railway Line to Batticaloa and Trincomalee in 1928.
Until 1953, Ceylon's railways operated steam locomotives. In the golden era, it enhanced its service by changing to diesel locomotives, under the leadership of Rampala. Various types of diesel locomotives were added to the service. Today the company is known as Sri Lanka Railways as Ceylon gained independence in 1948 and changed its name to Sri Lanka when it became a republic in 1972.
- St Petersburg & Helsingfors RailwayBiographyBiography
Railway between St Petersburg, Russia and Helsinki, Finland
- Belfast & Northern Counties RailwayBiographyBiography
Formed in 1848 as the Belfast and Ballymena Railway. The railway became known as the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) in 1860. In 1903, it amalgamated with the Midland Railway, administered by the Northern Counties Committee.
- Gefle-Dala Railway (Sweden)BiographyBiography
Swedish Railway, known to have been extant 1858.