When the three companies merged in 1844 to form the Midland Railway, Derby became its headquarters and the workshops merged to become the Midland Railway Locomotive Works. The immediate task was to achieve some standardisation in the various locomotives that it had inherited. Locomotives at that time were designed and built by manufacturers who might be lacking in actual operating experience with their products. The first Locomotive and Carriage Superintendent was Matthew Kirtley who persuaded various manufacturers to build to his own design and in 1849 50 six-coupled goods engines were delivered.