The first part of the Midland Railway was completed in 1839, with the line from Derby to Nottingham, with the line to Leicester opening the next year. These formed a triangle of lines south of Long Eaton, meeting at Sawley Junction (S on the plan), just east of the current station, Long Eaton (LE) just before Meadow Lane and Trent Junction (T) near Cranfleet Farm.
The opening of the Erewash Valley line in 1847 added another triangle as the new line split at the North Erewash (NE) junction (200 yards south of the Main Street level crossing) to the Leicester line at South Erewash junction (SE) close to what’s now the south end of Forbes Hole nature reserve. There was also the Nottingham Loop to Long Eaton junction.
Trains running north-south from the Erewash line (mostly coal trains from the Derbyshire/Notts coalfield) crossed the Nottingham-Derby line at Platts Crossing (PC) near the north end of Forbes Hole. But there was no easy way for trains to get from the Erewash Valley to Derby. And because trains from Leicester/London tended to go to Derby, carriages or passengers for Nottingham often changed at Trent Junction, although there was no station there. Plans submitted in 1848 included a small platform just north of Trent Junction.
These problems were solved when Trent was opened as an interchange station in 1862. The reconfiguration included a new South Curve from a junction by the Sheet Stores (SS) on the Derby line, a tight turn into the station from the North Bend and the closure of the E-W line where the crossing had been. The new north and south bends joined the main line at Trent Station North Junction (NJ) and South Junction (SJ).
When Trent Station opened, the original station at Long Eaton junction on Meadow Lane closed. A Long Eaton station was opened a few months later on Tithe Barn Lane, which became Station Street.
In 1869 another line was added, connecting Sheet Stores junction with Stenson junction on the Derby-Birmingham line, via Castle Donington.
Then, from 1899, a high-level goods line was added from Trent Station South Junction to Toton sidings. It crossed the over the Nottingham line and various roads in Long Eaton on bridges.
