Trent railway station was situated near Long Eaton in Derbyshire at the junction of the Midland Railway line from London to Derby and Nottingham. It was unusual in that it did not serve any community, being simply an interchange. The complex network of tracks in this area is popularly known as Trent Junction, though strictly this was the junction of the Derby and the Leicester line at the south of the triangular layout, later renamed Trent South. It was built in 1839 by the Midland Counties Railway which linked Derby and Nottingham with Leicester and thence to London St Pancras. Other individual junctions within the complex are Attenborough Junction, Sheet Stores Junction, Toton Centre, Toton East, Trent East (now just Trent) and Trent South. Additionally the Meadow Lane, South Erewash/Trent Station North, Sawley Junction and Platt's Crossing components were removed when those sections of line disappeared. Immediately to the south-west is Trent Lock, a four-way junction on the British canal system, linking the River Soar and Erewash Canal to the River Trent, and leading to the Trent and Mersey Canal. History Between 1847 and 1862, the Midland built a line from Chesterfield (now known as the Erewash Valley Line). This had a curve to join the northbound line towards Nottingham, but crossed the Derby-Nottingham curve on the level at Platt's Crossing to meet the southbound line. At this time passengers from Nottingham travelled to Derby before heading for London, an round trip. Trent Station was built in 1862 as an island platform, in typical "Midland Gothic" style, on the Nottingham-Leicester arm. Through its century long existence it barely changed - even retaining the gas lighting. Platt's Crossing was removed and the Derby line brought round in a sharp curve to enter the station from the north. This curve was so tight that it was said that passengers in the leading coaches could see the tail of their own train. At the same time a curve was built from the south of the station on to the Derby line. It was particularly remarkable in that, although there was an up and a down platform, trains for a given destination might face in either direction. There is a famous comment by Sir Edmund Beckett: You arrive at Trent. Where that is I cannot tell. I suppose it is somewhere near the River Trent; but then the Trent is a very long river.