Welcome to the Railway Studies Friends

About Us

Flying Scotsman working 09:07 hrs Royal Duchy Bristol to Par through Newton Abbot © DG Walker.

Established in 1991 the Friends support the Collection by various means including volunteering for Saturday opening hours, fund raising for the purchase of new titles for the Collection or giving specialist advice on the many unidentified photographs and slides held by the Collection and compiling a database of the Collection’s photographs.

The Friends also hold a series of talks /slide shows throughout the year, details of which are in the News Section of this web site.

Membership of the Friends costs £10 per annum and membership details are available from:

The Secretary, G. Walker, 68 Mile End Road, Newton Abbot TQ12 1RW.

The Railway Studies Collection accepts book donations and in the first instance the Railway Studies Catalogue will be checked to see if we already have the title. Any new titles will be added to the collection and duplicate books will be sold by the Friends. Any monies accumulated will then be available to support the Railway Studies Collection.

Private collections are often left to the Railway Studies Library and these are dealt with by the Railway Studies Librarian, with volunteers on hand to assist in sorting out such collections. If there are any duplicate titles these are donated to the Friends who then dispose of them and use the money raised to buy new titles for the Collection.

Friends of the Railway Studies Collection Meetings

Black 5 44932 brings 1Z13 17:34 Plymouth to Bristol Temple Meads the Great Britain XV through Newton Abbot Station 15.04 2023. © Chris Brown.

All meetings are held on the first floor of the Passmore Edwards Centre, Newton Abbot and start at 7pm.

All are welcome to attend. The Friends of the Railway Studies Collection have free entry; guests are also welcome and are invited to make a small donation of £2 which adds to the funds for the purchase of new books for the Collection.

All meeting are held in the Passmore Edwards Centre and commence at 7pm. All are welcome.

The programme for meetings is as follows :-

Date	Subject and speaker
20^th February	Driving under London – an illustrated talk by John Polley.
19^th March	The East Suffolk Railway – an illustrated talk by John Brodribb.
16^th April	What I saw on my holidays – a talk by Paul Silvestri on his recent travels.
7^th May	Annual General Meeting – followed by a selection of images recently acquired by the Collection Graham Walker.
17^th September	Railway Scene Photographic Review – May 2022 to April 2024 by Gareth Harrison.
16^th October	From Okehampton to the Atlantic Coast – by Bernard Mills.
19^th November	Mishap, Misfortune and Misadeventure – by John Heaton.
17^th December	Christmas Quiz – by Colin Stone .

Guests are welcome at any of our meetings and small fee of £2 per meeting is charged.

Opening Hours of the Railway Studies Collection

221135 & 220017 on the 0725 Plymouth - Edinburgh © Paul Silvestri.

The Railway Studies Collection is in the refurbished Passmore Edwards Centre, Market Street, Newton Abbot and is located on the first floor and accessible by a lift and stairways. The Collection is open on:

Monday – Saturday: 9.00am - 4.00pm

The Libraries staff will be able to assist from Mondays to Saturdays with Railway Study enquires. At other times the Library staff will be able to assist with queries.

Friends of the Railway Studies Collection

Following the Annual General meeting of the Friends held in May 2023 a new chairman has been appointed and he is Andy Houghton. He succeeds Denis A Lewis. There is also a change in the Treasurers post with Paul Silvestri taking over from Graham Walker from August 2023.

Railway Studies Collection users guide

For arrangement and classification of bookstock, library plan and general guidance, please review our user guide.

New Books provided by the Friends and Libraries Unlimited

The following new titles have been acquired by the Collection:

Donatedto the Collection by Post Script Books Ltd, Heathfield, Newton Abbot
British Railways Electric Multiple Units up to 1978
Britsih Railways in Transition
Class 47 Diesel Locomotives
Early Pioneers of Steam
East Coast Mainline Disasters
Gilbert Szlumper and Leo Amery of the Southern Railway
Great Britain's Railways
History of the Southern Railway
Indian Summer of Steam
Joseph Locke
LNER Workshops
Locomotive Pioneers
Midland Main Line to St Pancras and Cross Country
Modern Traction Profiles Privitisation Classes
Pacer Family
Railway Development around Leeds and Bradford since 1968
Southern Railway Maunsell Moguls and Tank Locomotives
Southern Railway Urie and Maunsell 4-6-0's
Traction Recognition
Underground and Overground Trains
Victorian Railway Stations

New Books purchased by the Friends

UK Metro and Light Raill Systems 3rd Edition

Photograph Collection

'Castle' HST (43093 & 43004) on the 0650 Bristol TM - Penzance © Paul Silvestri.

Some years ago the Railway Studies Collection inherited a large number of negatives which are slowly being processed. Included in the images are a selection of Midland and Great Northern Railway images which are in digital format only. Discussions are ongoing as to how these images will be available in the future for public use. So far the photographic date base totals over 82000 images.

Digitisation of the Collection’s Slides

A start has been made on digitising the Railway Studies slide collection. The first batch of slides relate to the Somerset and Dorset Railway and have been acquired from Colour Rail. The Collection also acquired the slides of a South Devon Railway supporter who has recently passed away. Theses slides focus on the South Devon Railway and the many preserved main line steam excursions to the South West. A slide spreadsheet has been established recording the subject on the slide with a unique slide number.

Godfrey Yeoman Photographs

Some years ago the Collection was left the photograph Collection of Mr Godfrey Yeomans. Over the covid period these photographs were digitised and now the photo details have been entered onto the Collections photo database. They include many images of the former lines of the Midland and Great Northern Railway in British Railways days, the early days of the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway from its closure in 1956 to its re-opening as a preserved line, and numerous rail tour photos from 1957 to 1965.

Details of the images are available by contacting Graham Walker the Friends Secretary – contact details on the web site.

Ottley's Bibliography of British Railway History

The collection is arranged in line with Ottley's Bibliography of British Railway History.

Collection Details

The Collection opened in 1991 and is housed on the first floor of Passmore Edwards Centre which is a Grade 1 Listed Building. Newton Abbot was chosen because of the town's significance as a railway centre.

Newton Abbot has a main line station, and was the site of a large locomotive shed [Shed code 83A] engine repair works and carriage and wagon works.

All aspects of Britain's Railways are covered by the collection with material of interest to railway and social historians, writer's, modellers, researchers and those with a more general interest.

There is comprehensive material on West Country Railways from the Great Western and London South Western/Southern periods up to the present day. In addition there is a substantial amount of information on the remainder of the UK's railway network with limited coverage of railways in Ireland.

As well as providing information of all types on standard gauge railways, the Collection caters for other key areas of interest such as :-

Broad Gauge
Narrow gauge
Industrial Lines
Miniature railways
Underground railways
Preserved railways

This wealth of data is arranged according to a classification scheme based on that devised by George Ottley for his Bibliography of Railway History. A guide to this scheme is available in the Library.

Items in the Collection form part of the Devon Library Service catalogue. This available on their website:

Click here to view details of the Railway Studies Collection at the Passmore Edwards Centre, Newton Abbot.

The Railway Studies Collection contains:-

Books
Magazines and Periodicals
Pamphlets
Photographs, Post Cards and Slides
Timetables (working and public)
Drawings and plans

Please click here to view a full list of our Magazines and Periodicals