Editing Midland Main Line (section)

==Route definition==
The term Midland Main Line has been used from the late 1840s to describe any route of the [[Midland Railway]] on which express trains were operated.

It is first recorded in print in 1848 in [[Bradshaw's Guide|Bradshaw's railway almanack]] of that year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradshaw |first=George |date=1848 |title=Bradshaw's railway almanack, directory, shareholders' guide and manual |publisher=George Bradshaw |page=204 }}</ref> In 1849 it begins to be mentioned regularly in newspapers such as the ''[[Derby Mercury]]''.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Leeds and Bradford |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000052/18490815/055/0029?browse=true |newspaper=Derby Mercury |location=British Newspaper Archive |date=15 August 1849 |access-date=10 August 2016 |via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref>

In 1867, the ''[[Birmingham Journal (nineteenth century)|Birmingham Journal]]'' uses the term to describe the new railway running into [[St Pancras railway station]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The New Works of the Midland Railway Company |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000224/18671221/016/0003
 |newspaper=Birmingham Journal |location=British Newspaper Archive |date=21 December 1867 |access-date=10 August 2016 |via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref>

In 1868, the term was used to describe the Midland Railway main route from North to South through Sheffield<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The New Midland Railway Station at Sheffield |url= http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000181/18681212/012/0006 |newspaper= Sheffield Independent |date= 12 December 1868 |access-date= 10 August 2016 |via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> and also on routes to Manchester, Leeds and Carlisle.

Under British Rail the term was used to define the route between St Pancras and Sheffield, but since then, Network Rail has restricted it in its description of Route 19<ref name="Route19">{{cite web |title=Route 19 Midland Main Line and East Midlands |url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/RoutePlans/2009/Route%2019%20-%20Midland%20Main%20Line%20and%20East%20Midlands.pdf |access-date=10 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915152009/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/RoutePlans/2009/Route%2019%20-%20Midland%20Main%20Line%20and%20East%20Midlands.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> to the lines between St. Pancras and Chesterfield.