Catalogue description The Allen collection of railway photographs

Sir Peter Allen's photographs concentrate almost entirely on overseas subjects. They consist of 1¾ x 1½ ins film negatives featuring locomotives of many nations, including the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Brazil, but primarily Spain. Many images are dated from the late-nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century, for Allen also collected the work of earlier photographers.

A typed list is available, divided by country, giving details of railway company, locomotive number, type, name, builder, angle of view and date of the photograph. The prints are held in Sir Peter's reference albums, ordered by country and region. There are no negatives for many of the prints.

Allen, Sir Peter, 1905-1993, Chairman of ICI, President of the Transport Trust

• Railway transport

The photographs came to the NRM as part of the Millbrook House collection. From 1967 to 1988 Sir Peter was president of the Transport Trust and he also produced books on railway subjects. He wrote several books in conjunction with the well-known enthusiasts P B Whitehouse and A B MacLeod, both of whose collections are also held by the NRM. The National Railway Museum's South Hall has been named the 'Peter Allen Building' in recognition of his role as Chairman of the NRM Advisory Committee when the Museum was established in 1975.