The National Railway Museum Library Archive is one of Britain's major reference sources for the study of railway history. Since its opening in 1975, the National Railway Museum has built up important collections of books, maps, photographs and archives. These reflect the many aspects of railways in the British Isles, the historic and technical development of locomotives and rolling stock. Photographic Collection: The Photographic Collection is made up of more than 1.4 million photographs from over 180 collections, with images from the 1850s to the present day. The variety of topics covered include not just technology, but also the social changes sparked by the transport revolution. The photographs in the collection were taken by official company photographers and by famous private photographers such as Eric Treacy, Maurice Earley and Patrick Ransome-Wallis. Finding Aids such as registers, lists and sometimes albums, created by the photographers, have been acquired with the collections, and can be consulted by appointment in the Reading Room. A Guide To NRM Photographic Collections is available for consultation in the Reading Room and can also be purchased for £12.50 including p&p, and Railways in Focus features many of the best images from the collections. Pictorial Collection: The Pictorial Collection contains paintings, prints and engravings covering more than 150 years of railway history from the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825 to the present day. The Poster Collection contains over 7,000 posters from the pre-grouping era to the present day and is the single most important and comprehensive collection of British Railway posters in the world. Reading Room Access: The Reading Room is open Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 17.00 (except Bank Holidays) by appointment and is available free of charge to anyone who wishes to use it. A Readers' Guide which details the services provided to researchers, contains more information about the collections detailed above, and guides to resources on specific areas of study is available for consultation in the Reading Room and can also be purchased at a charge of £6.50 including p&p. As space is limited readers are asked to make an appointment
before their visit. Mrs Lynne Thurston Links: |