Welcome to the Railway Studies Friends

The Railway Studies Collection is administered by Devon County Council's Libraries Service. It is based at the Newton Abbot Library in recognition of the town's Railway heritage.

The reference only collection is open to the public on :-

• Wednesdays 10am to 1pm, 2pm to 5pm
• Thursdays 10am to 1pm
• Saturdays 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm

The Railway Studies collection is manned by a Librarian on weekdays and volunteers on Saturdays.

FRIENDS OF THE RAILWAY STUDIES COLLECTION

Established in 1992 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.

Membership of the Friends costs £6 per annum and membership details are available from:

The Secretary, Mr J Hartley, Woodlands, Old Newton Road, Kingskerwell, Newton Abbot. Telephone No. 01803 873339.

The Friends also hold a series of talks /slide shows throughout the year, details of which for the current year are in the News Section of this web site. Collections are often left to the Railway Studies Collection and these are dealt with by the Library Service. Volunteers are 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 then use the money raised to buy new titles for the Railway Studies Collection.

NEWS

Forthcoming meetings :-

19th November 2008 - "Steam in 2008" Graham Walker presents slides from his travels this year showing steam on the Harz System in Germany, American steam both standard gauge and narrow gauge plus the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Rly and more.

All the meetings to be held in the Railway Studies Room at Newton Abbot Library at 7pm. Non members welcome.

The subscription rate for 2007/8 will remain at £6 with payment due from the 1st April 2007. Payment should be made to Peter Rowledge at:

5, Shobbrook Hill,Newton Abbot TQ12 1UZ. Please make cheques payable to The Friends of the Railway Studies Collection.

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY

Sales News - There is a further book list of surplus railway titles available from Sherryl at the Library.

Volunteers from the Friends are currently archiving the photographs held by the Railway Studies Collection.

The first task is to create captions for the many photographs and there are numerous photographs which although the locomotive type can be identified the location, and aproximate year the photograph was taken cannot be identified.

Any help with this task would be appreciated. Contact Sherryl at the Railway Studies Library.

BOOKS FOR SALE

A further list of titles available for sale to the Friends is available from the Newton Abbot Library Railway Studies Collection. Please contact by telephone (01626 206422), post or e mail us at railway.library@devon.gov.uk.

Railway Magazines for sale

The Collection has available for sale an extensive list of Railway magazines and periodicals. A list of the magazines available can be downloaded here (PDF). If you wish to purchase any title please Contact the Railway Studies Librarian at railway.library@devon.gov.uk. Postage for the dispatch of the magazines will be paid by the purchaser.

COLLECTION DETAILS

The Collection which opened in 1991 is housed on the first floor of Newton Abbot Library 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 people concerned with the contemporary scene.

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 dealings with railways in other countries.

As well as providing info 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 on the web where a list of periodical holdings is also available.
Click here to view the Devon County Council Website

The Railway Studies Collection contains:-

• Books
• pamphlets
• Timetables
• Photographs
• Post Cards
• Slides
• Drawings
• Maps
• Magazines
• Videos and railway related jig saw puzzles

Copyright of all photos DG Walker

DIRECTIONS

By Road: there are two large car parks within easy walking distance of the library.

They are Newfoundlandway Car Park about 200 yards from the Library entrance and a Car Park situated on the Livestock Market. Car Parking is also available on Thursdays and Saturdays in the Livestock Market Car Park which is situated at the rear of the Library.

By Rail: Newton Abbot is served by main line services provided by First Great Western and Arriva Cross Country Exeter to Plymouth main line, with local services provided by First Great Western from Exeter, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Torquay and Paignton.

The library is 20 minutes walk from the railway station. Buses run regularly from the Railway station to the town's bus station which is less than five minutes walk to the library.

Click here to view a map of how to find us

CONTACTS

Chairman of the Friends of the Raiway Studies Collection,
Mr P Rowledge,
5 Shobrook Hill,
Newton Abbot TQ12 1UZ

Secretary,
Mr J Hartley,
"Woodlands",
Old Newton Road,
Kingskerswell,
Newton Abbot TQ12 5LB

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

Copyright 2007 Railway Studies Friends | Copyright of all photos DG Walker