UK academic and research centres
University of York - range of rail-related distance and full time academic courses; access to research resources of the National Railway Museum
Leeds University - "the largest university-based transport teaching and research organisation in Europe"
Birmingham University - "world class educational and research centre to support the railway sector in the field of Electronic, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil and Systems Engineering
UK scholarly and historical societies
Extensive photographic collection and some archival material relating to the Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness areas
Significant library and archives. Download HMRS Catalogue here
Biannual journal publishing scholarly articles on the history of transport
Download NGRS Catalogue here
Collections of books, photographs and records
Archive material and expertise to assist in study and research
Other UK research sources
Pictures, history of abandoned underground and overground stations
O’ Dell Transport Collection: books and maps concerning railways and other transport internationally primarily from a geographical perspective; also archive material relating to Great North of Scotland and other Scottish railways
Library holds a collection of photographs and other material relating to industrial and narrow gauge railways, particularly in the South of England
National Archive - online links to substantial collections of manuscripts noted under the indexes to the National Register of Archives
Significant collection of railway books, particularly relating to the South East
Regional Resource Centre has a special interest in railways of the c.1825 era
Railway & Canal Historical Society deposits; Taylor railway collection; R. B. Wilson collection re GWR; Chester & Holyhead; archives of Metropolitan-Cammell
Special collection of railway company prospectuses; trade literature (ex Patent Office Library); papers of C. B. Vignoles, railway engineer; Oriental & India Office Collection
BTP’s online archives
Brunel family papers; Clinker collection of railway books and papers; Garnett collection of railway maps; J. E. C. Palmer notes on Victorian railway periodicals and Eastern Counties Railway; Borley papers on London railways; L. James railway chronology; timetables;. Mowat, Clinker, Wookey locomotive photographs
Stockton & Darlington Railway collection
Ken Hoole Study Centre has papers, books and photographs relating to N E railways; library collection of the North Eastern Railway Association; records of the North Eastern Railway Servants’ Pension Society; pictorial records of the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co
Books, pamphlets, reports, plans and periodicals from 17th century onwards; archives of papers relating to Marc Isambard Brunel and William Mackenzie
Business records of Scottish companies, including portions of the North British Locomotive Co; Andrew Barclay (locomotive builders); R. Y. Pickering (rolling stock builders); William Beardmore (engineers encompassing most forms of transport); Scottish Railway Collection, A.G. Dunbar collection (railway trade unions), Caledonian Railway Association archives, Jackson collection (overseas railway photographs), Adam Smith railway plans, John Hume collection, transport ephemera and runs of key periodicals
LYRS material re Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
Archive material related to GWR, including ’RKB’ collection of printed ephemera; Eric Mountford collection (especially related to south Wales); C.R. Gordon Stuart ticket collection; extensive collections of photographs and transparencies
Collection of pictures, maps and sketches
Material relating to GWR and signalling; photographic archive, including collections of B. Moone, W. Potter and V.R. Webster
Administrative records of London Transport and its predecessors
Printed material relating to London Transport and its constituents;photographic, film, art and oral history collections; Reinohl collection of bus and tram tickets and related material; Frank Pick material
Extensive collection of pamphlets on the early history of the railways
Archives and photographs mainly relating to the Midland Railway, its successors and neighbours
Official records of Scottish railway companies; locomotive, rolling stock and civil engineers records, station traffic books, accident reports, and staff records; books and periodicals on transport subjects dating back to the 1840s, as well as timetables, publicity material, engineering and architectural drawings and photographs; archives from W. E. Boyd, Alan G. Dunbar, Montague Smith, D. S. Macdonald, David L. Smith (the latter two particularly concerning the Glasgow & South Western Railway), Sir Thomas Bouch, and George Graham (Caledonian Railway)
Townley collection of locomotive photographs
Papers and plans of Henry Robinson, railway engineer; Scott-Archer (mid-Wales and Marches), Longueville (mid- and north Wales), Wynnstay (mid- and north Wales), Bute (Cardiff), Mayberry (south Wales), Jenkins Resolven and Harpton Court; photographic collections by J. Thomas
Material on railway ships; C. Grasemann collection (Southern Railway and other short sea shipping)
Alfred Newton collection of village stops on the GCR; Rokeby collection of railway station photographs and aerial photographic covers
Major collection of books on railway development in Britain and elsewhere: technical and specialist periodicals, timetables, statistics and accident reports; 1.4 million images from over 180 collections; technical archive; National Archive of Railway Oral History. Centre will re-open as a search engine in Oct 2007
A number of papers are available covering research into structural failures on the railway
Proceedings on Private Bills, the normal means by which railway companies sought to be incorporated and given powers to construct and operate their works
The independent railway accident investigation organisation for the UK
Comprehensive online resource. Railways Archive RSS feed here
Oldest enthusiasts’ collection of books, periodicals, timetables and unpublished papers - London (020 8536 0864)
Collection of books, periodicals and unpublished papers
Significant collection of books on national railway history; specialist periodicals, timetables.
Catalogue search engine here
Kenneth Brown Railway Collection; Edmondson tickets; Graham Moss collection (early pamphlets) and George Miller and Eric Dyckhoff collections of transport ephemera; Robbins railway book collection; Tanks Group archive includes material on Benguela Railway
Special collections include those of G.P. Bidder (railway engineering), Rhys Jenkins (early locomotives and steam road vehicles), T. S. Lascelles (railway signalling), C. E. Lee (transport history), P.C. Dewhurst (photographs of Midland Railway and South American railways), Robert Stephenson & Co (early locomotive construction), North British Locomotive Co. (Stephenson documents), railway civil engineers A. Gibb, G. Neumann and S. Pearson & Son, and the Crown Agents; Tolhausen index to early periodicals. Catalogue search engine here
Over 3000 titles, includes well-known works by recognised GWR historians and periodicals; pdotographs and postcards; Alan Peck Collection re Swindon Works; Keith Frankling Collection relating to carriage and wagon design and construction
Comprehensive indices of steam locomotive history, bibliographies, magazines, abstracts, patents, biographies, material and images about mechanical signalling systems
Comprehensive history of railways testing
History of tickets, ticket equipment and related matters. Downloads of catalogue and other documentation from here
Major repository of books, periodicals, photographs and other literatures
Includes D B McNeill Transport Archive of periodicals and timetables
R.C. Ford Railway Collection comprises books, pamphlets and photographs mainly relating to the Midland Railway and its successors
Online academic library with long established transport history collection, including accident reports back to 1865 and Woollatt bequest of GWR material
Goldsmith’s Library of Economic Literature, including earlier printed books relating to railways and other forms of transport and Raistrick Collection of material mostly relating to early railways
Online community for discussions/research
History of locomotives; rolling stock; preserved equipment
Ronald Shephard Collection of books, cuttings, postcards and photographs
Significant railways collection
International research sources
Detailed history of the Afghan rail system
History of Chile’s railways
Learned society dedicated to the history of rail transport in France
WW1 light railway photographs. Searchable database here
History of Bangkok’s Tramways 1894-1968
Archives and documentation
Comprehensive archives on the history of Spain’s railways
History of the Commonwealth Railways from 1912
Chronological History of European Railways
"An international collegial association of scholars, practitioners and citizens to encourage and promote an understanding of the historical interaction between transport, traffic and the mobility of people" - Eindhoven
The Deutsches Museum Archive is one of Europe’s most important archives specializing in the history of science and technology, with a particular emphasis on transport
Extensive maps, photographs
History of railways in Papua New Guinea
Comprehensive listing of suppliers and industry history
Scholarly foundation relating to the history of Spanish and Latin American railways
Comprehensive monitor of working steam locomotives around the globe
Significant repository of Irish railway history
History of steam locomotives which recycled steam back into water for reuse - popular in Germany, South Africa, and Russia
Portal to museums that have tram collections and research organisations focussed on the history of light rail systems
Comprehensive country listing of light rail systems
Office responsible from 1831 for the supervision of railways
History and heritage of the New York, Ontario Western, and other railways of the region between New Jersey and Lake Ontario
Listing of stock - locations, constructors
Numbering schemes covering UIC; Austrian Railways; Swiss Railways; German Railways; French Railways; Norwegian Railways; Finnish Railways; Czech and Slovak Railways; British Railways; Swedish Railways; Budapest’s commuter trains; Poland’s post-1945 steam locomotives; German narrow guage locomotives
Portal to a comprehensive range of American research sites
Portal to historical and preservation societies around the world
History of railways, mostly narrow gauge, in the far south of South America and in the islands of the South Atlantic
"RTRI is now challenging innovation on railway technologies covering from basic research to application in the fields of rolling stock, civil engineering, electrical engineering, information technology, material, environment and human sciences"
Comprehensive resource covering statistics; history; routes; models; preserved sets
"World-class transportation research and testing organization, providing emerging technology solutions for the railway industry throughout North America and the world"
The history of the transportation of rolling stock to continental Europe by sea. The US Coastguard manned LSTs acted as a floating railway between England and France
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