Midland Railway Sketches : ISBN 0-9537486-0-8
by Edward Bradbury aka "Strephon" (Midland Railway Society).
Published 1999 - 64 pages, illustrated.
A5 - Softback : £5.95 now £3.00 from bookstores, £4.00 (mail order).

Midland Railway Sketches has been produced on behalf of the Midland Railway Society in a considerably enhanced form and was originally published in 1876 by 'Strephon'. It is a collection of his Sketches which first appeared in local newspapers.

Strephon was the pen name of Edward Bradbury, who is usually regarded as a typical Victorian journalist and very much of the dilettante set.

He was born in Derby in December 1853 and When Bradbury left school, he entered the service of the Midland Railway, where he enjoyed privileged facilities, and devoted his leisure hours to writing articles for the local press under the pseudonym Strephon, often on railway-related subjects.

These articles were published in the Derbyshire Times and the Sheffield Daily Telegraph. Certain sketches were also published nationally in London Society, Cassell's Magazine and The Magazine of Art, while many appeared later in book compilations, often in an expanded format.

Bradbury's first book, published in November 1876 by Bemrose of Derby, was Midland Railway Sketches and this forms the basis of this publication. The original had 52 pages with a paper cover and was priced at 6d. The chapter on 'Through the Peak on the Engine of the Express' appeared in Pilgrimages in the Peak in 1879 and All About Derbyshire in 1884. The contemporary press reports are from In the Derbyshire Highlands, which was published in 1881. The illustrations in this new publication did not appear in the original sketches and have been carefully selected to enhance this revised edition.

Contents:
About 'Strephon'
Preface
I. The Midland Railway at Derby
II. Over The Settle and Carlisle Line
III. On The Engine of the Midland Midnight Express
IV. Through The Peak On The Engine Of The Express
V. Contemporary Press Reports.

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