Railways: An Overview

Domestic Records Information 69

1. Introduction

This research guide gives an overview of those records held at The National Archives which relate to the railways. For additional information, see also:

Railways: Staff Records
Transport Police
How to use leaflet the British Transport Historical Records Catalogue. Ask a member of staff in the Open Reading Room.

2. Records formerly held by the British Transport Historical Records Department

Following the rationalisation of BTHR in 1972, nearly 1400 record series were transferred to The National Archives and placed under five department codes, as shown below. More records have accrued since the initial transfer. Administrative records are generally open to inspection when they are thirty years old. Personnel records are subject to extended closure.

Card indexes and registers compiled by the British Transport Historical Records staff are available at The National Archives. The indexes give references to all the original documents and publications in the above series up to the time of their transfer in 1972. For material accrued since that date it is necessary to consult the Catalogue or the series lists. The references given in the indexes are BTHR references and must be converted to National Archives references. There is a "How to Use" Research Guide available at The National Archives which provides instructions on how to do this.

3. Records of the Board of Trade

The Board of Trade was the first government department to assume responsibility for railways. Although its Railway Department was created in 1840 some of the records predate this. Most of the records were transferred to the Ministry of Transport after 1919. Those that remain pertain to corporate legislation and mainly comprise legal registration forms. Railways registered under the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 are to be found in BT 41 . Registration papers compiled under the Railway Companies Securities Act 1866 are in BT 285 . Records of railway companies (mostly overseas railway companies) dissolved after 1856 can be found in BT 31 . The Railway Department's own administrative papers can be found in BT 22 .

4. Records of the Ministry of Transport

Following its creation in 1919 this ministry assumed much of the work, and records, of the Board of Trade Railway Department. Its breadth of control over and responsibilities for the railways has varied over time, however, as other bodies, such as the wartime Railway Executive Committees and British Transport Commission, have operated.

Records include correspondence and papers (MT 6 , with index in MT 7 , MT 11 with index in MT 12 ), and minute books (MT 13 ). Papers relating to light railways include correspondence (MT 14 with index in MT 16 , MT 17 with index in MT 18 ), plans (MT 54 ), and light railway orders made under various parliamentary acts (MT 58 , MT 130 ).

There is also material relating to charges and rates (MT 56 , MT 77 , MT 131 ), the reorganisation of the railways following the Railways Act 1921 and the nationalisation of railways following the Transport Act 1947 (MT 45 , MT 47 , MT 56 , MT 64 , MT 74 , MT 87 , MT 88 , MT 96 ), the work of various tribunals (MT 1 , MT 67 , MT 80 ) and of the Railway Inspectorate (MT 29 with index MT 30 , MT 114 ). Many other subjects are also covered, including the Channel Tunnel and the Serpell Report on Railway Finances 1982-1983.

5. Parliamentary and Judicial Sources

The construction of a railway usually required parliamentary sanction. Parliamentary papers, including local and private acts of parliament, can be inspected at The National Archives. The papers may be consulted on microfiche in the reading rooms, and the parliamentary acts, in bound volumes, are held in the Library. Whilst The National Archives hold a selection of deposited plans, and prospectuses, there is a fuller collection at the Parliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament,London,SW1A 0PW, and deposited plans will also be found in local record offices.

If railway companies were involved in a legal dispute then papers relating to a specific action may have survived. A number of railway companies (mostly overseas railway companies) filed papers relating to winding up orders. These are to be found in J 13 . Associated material can be found in record series J 45 , J 100 and J 107 . Debenture action files are to be found in J 14 . Bankruptcy papers are held under the B (Bankruptcy Courts and Commissioners) department code, and amongst Board of Trade records in BT 226 .

6. Other sources

A number of other Government Departments and bodies held responsibilities in relation to railways, including the War Office, the Home Office, the Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the Ministry for Housing and Local Government and the Metropolitan Police. Papers are likely to be scattered within a wide range of material pertaining to a variety of subjects. A search could, therefore, prove lengthy and difficult.

For example, material relating to overseas railways, many owned by British interests, is to found amongst papers of the Colonial Office, Foreign Office, Board of Trade, Treasury and War Office. Some references are highlighted in the Railways Overseas Catalogue in the Open Reading Room at The National Archives. Material relating to nationalisation can be found amongst the papers of the Cabinet Office ( CAB 65 , CAB 66 , CAB 117 , CAB 123 , CAB 127 , CAB 128 , CAB 134 and CAB 143 ) and the Treasury (T 229 ).

Finally, material relating to the military use of railways can be found amongst the papers of the War Office. Handbooks of railway networks of other countries providing topographic and technical details are in WO 33 and WO 252 . Papers relating to the use of railways particularly during mobilisation, are in WO 32 . War Diaries of Railway Corps during the First World War are in class WO 95 . For the Second World War, identify the theatre of war and then the series of War Diaries desired.

7. Maps, Plans and Photographs

RAIL 1029-1037 (formerly MPS 1-8 and MPS Y) are nine series that have been assigned to railway maps and plans and they can be searched by consulting the catalogue or the series lists. Many other maps, plans and diagrams are to be found scattered throughout the RAIL series. Some of the plans, which accompanied private Acts of Parliament can be found in RAIL 1071 , but a full set is held in the Parliamentary Archives. MT 54 holds light railway plans and War Office maps and plans depicting railways can be found in WO 153 , WO 297 and WO 298 , WO 300 , WO 301 , WO 302 and WO 303 . Some civil engineering plans and drawings for the construction of railway lines, stations and depots can also be found at The National Archives, particularly in MT 8 and MT 91 .

CN 18 contains photographs extracted from RAIL series, but does not yet hold much material. Photographs relating to railways may presently be found, therefore, throughout the records, although the following series are particularly rich sources: AN 2 , AN 14 and AN 31 , RAIL 1057 and RAIL 1157 and WO 316-319 . Printed photographs can also often be found in railway books (ZLIB ) and periodicals (ZPER ), as well as War Office handbooks (WO 33 ) and intelligence papers (WO 208 ). Consult the Photograph Catalogue for some specific references. The National Railway Museum (Leeman Road, York, YO26 4XJ) has a collection of more than 1.4 million photographs.

8. Accident Reports

The Railway Inspectors' Reports on accidents to trains, passengers and railway staff are held in series RAIL 1053 . Other records created by the Railway Inspectorate of the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Transport are held in series MT 114 and MT 29 , with index in MT 30 . Correspondence and papers relating to railway accidents can also be found in series MT 6 . In addition the National Archives hold the records of some of the official boards of enquiry into major accidents including the Clapham Junction (MT 143 ) and the Ladbroke Grove (EF14 ; some material is closed) Rail Disasters.

Reports relating to major and especially fatal accidents are usually to be found printed in an annual return to Parliament, which may be read in a set of the House of Commons' papers in any large reference library, including The National Archives Library. Accident reports can also be found in the records of the individual companies.

9. Locomotives and Rolling Stock

The National Railway Museum (Leeman Road, York, YO26 4XJ) holds most of the surviving technical records relating to locomotives, carriages, wagons and signalling. They hold the ten Great Western Railway carriage registers and the first 100 GWR Wagon registers; the 50 continuing registers are held by The National Archives in series RAIL 254 . The NRM also holds a comprehensive set of engine history cards for practically every London Midland Scottish standard locomotive built, and repair reports for most London & North Eastern Railway, many Southern Railway and most British Railway standard steam locomotives.

The National Archives hold all the GWR locomotive records in series RAIL 254 . Other information relating to rolling stock can also be found in some of the company series. RAIL 1204 contains records relating to the Pullman Car Company, 1909-1985, including minutes, agreements and share records. Technical papers can also be found in the publications held in series ZPER and ZLIB and in the I K Brunel Collection, RAIL 1149 .

10. Records not held in The National Archives

Railway records may also be found in local record offices, specialist museums, university collections and in the hands of local preservation societies and enthusiasts. The following gives details of some alternative sources covering London and elsewhere.

Some records relating to London Transport and its predecessor or subsidiary companies (railway, bus and tramway) were held originally by the British Transport Historical Records Department (see above). In 1968, administrative records, such as London Transport and predecessor company board minutes and papers (1933-1962 and c. 1855-1933, respectively) and some Metropolitan Railway records, were transferred to London Transport and later deposited with the London Metropolitan Archives (40 Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB, www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma). LMA also holds records of London wide authorities, namely the London County Council and the Greater London Council, which both had responsibilities for transport.

Transport for London (TfL) is the integrated body responsible for the capital's transport system. Its Archives and Record Management Service holds the main collection of historical business records for the TfL Group and predecessor companies. These include undertakings such as the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway Co Ltd (1897-1910) and the Underground Electric Railways Co. as well as personal papers of key individuals such as Frank Pick and Lord Ashfield (55 Broadway, London SW1H OBD, Telephone: 020 7918 4142, Fax: 020 7918 3727, e-mail: grouparchives@tfl.gov.uk, www.tfl.gov.uk/foi/889.aspx.

London's Transport Museum (now part of TfL, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7BB, www.ltmuseum.co.uk) holds timetables, photographs, maps and posters, tickets, staff magazines and other printed ephemera.

Many of LT's railways were built and operated under joint agreements with the main-line railway companies (for example, the Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Committee for the Aylesbury-Marylebone line), and thus records relating to mainline activities are to be found amongst the LT material; conversely, LT material can be found among mainline records in The National Archives.

STEAM: Museum of the Great Western Railway (Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2TA, Tel: 01793 466646, www.steam-museum.org.uk) holds some GWR company papers, official publications, drawings and photographs, as well as a comprehensive library of railway books and periodicals.

The Science Museum Library and Archives based in South Kensington, London and near Swindon, Wiltshire holds a varied collection of information about the railways including drawings and manuscripts of the works of civil and mechanical engineers along with documents from the British Transport Commission and Central Youth Employment Executive which provides information about people at work in various occupations in the 1950’s, including that of the railways.

The Thomas Cook Company Archives (The Thomas Cook Business Park, 19-21 Coningsby Road, Peterborough, PE3 8SB) holds records including timetables, guidebooks and holiday brochures, photographs and staff magazines.

The National Archives of Scotland holds records relating to the railways in Scotland and they can be consulted at the West Search Room, West Register House, Charlotte Square Edinburgh, EH2 4DJ (www.nas.gov.uk).

It should also be noted that Appendix 3 of C J Edwards, Railway Records: A Guide to Sources (PRO 2001) provides a guide to which record offices might hold the records of which railway companies. Some locally held records may also be located by conducting a search on the A2A (Access to Archives) website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a.

11. Further Reading

C J Edwards, Railway Records: A Guide to Sources (PRO 2001)
T R Gourvish, British Railways Vol 1: 1948-1973 (1986).
T R Gourvish, British Railways Vol 2: 1974-1997 (2002).
C Hamilton Ellis, The British Railway History 1877-1947 (1959).
Leslie James, A Chronology of the Construction of Britain's Railways 1778-1855 (Ian Allan Ltd, London, 1983).
George Ottley, A Bibliography of British Railway History (HMSO 1983), Supplements (HMSO 1988 and NRM 1998).
J Simmonds, The Railways of Britain: a journey through history (Sheldrake/Uralia, 1991).
The Oxford Companion to Railway History (Oxford University Press, 1997).

(ri2176) Last updated: 24 November 2009 | © Crown Copyright 2004