The Railways

( This page links to a number of pdf documents.  For information regarding PDF documents and how to load the software, please click here.)

The Library has a very extensive collection of pamphlets on the early history of the railways. There are over 1,500 pamphlets on railway history, almost half of them on the railways in the UK. Many of these date from the 19th century covering such issues as finance, railway building, safety and publications from the railway companies themselves. The economics of the railways is covered from the initial raising of capital in the 1840s, amalgamations of the railway companies in the late 19th century to the nationalisation debate , competition with road transport and line closures in the 20th century. There are also pamphlets on the technical aspects of railway building such as gauges, tunnelling and signalling. In view of the extent of the collection this guide cannot hope to be comprehensive but has concentrated on issues which still have current interest such as railway finance, nationalisation versus private ownership and the Channel Tunnel.

Pamphlets are only part of the collection of the material on railway history held by the Library. The Library also holds annual reports and journals which are kept in the classified sequence. Their locations can be found on the on-line catalogue. Maps published by the railway companies are kept in the Library's archives.

Early railway history

The building of railways in the UK began in the 1840s and had to be sanctioned by Parliament. The following pamphlet titles give some idea of the flavour of the collection- " An appeal to the public on the subject of railways" by G. Godwin published in 1837 (HE1/27), "The projected new railways: an epitome of the new lines of railway in England which Parliament will probably sanction with reasons for their doing so." by C.J. Collins in 1846 (HE1(42)/91), "Railways past, present and prospective" written by R.M. Martin in 1849, (BP183664, MICROFILM M(PAMPHLETS 45) and "A report to the committee for establishing a company to form a railway from Southampton to London, with docks at Southampton" by E.L. Stephens in 1831 (HE1(42)/33).

Railways attracted speculative finance. Publications on the raising of finance include;- "Ten minutes advice to speculators in railway shares by an observer, a resident of Manchester" 1840 (HE1(42)/97) and "Railways for the many and not for the few; or how to make them profitable to all" written by J. Ward in 1847 (HE1(42)/101).

There was public opposition, particularly on the part of those on whose land they were to be built. Pamphlets were issued in opposition to the railways- for instance;-"Railway tyranny: a letter of appeal to the President of the Board of Trade against railway companies and their persistent disobedience to the law; by one who has defeated them five times" published in 1885 (HE1(42)/340) and by J. Sedgwick-"An essay on the rights of owners and occupiers of property required by a railway company to compensation and the way to obtain it", published in 1862 (HE1(42)/332). There is a letter to an MP from "a Scotchman" regarding the "regulation" of Sunday travel on the railways, (HE1(42)/133) and a statement of opposition from Eton School masters to the proposed extension of the Great Western Railway from Slough to Windsor (HE1(42)/102).

In the 19th century railways were seen as a source of competition for the canals which were in decline. This was expressed by Peter Spence in his pamphlet "How the railway companies are crippling British industry and destroying the canals: evidence to the House of Commons Committee on Railway rates." 1881 (HE/70).

Publications from the railway companies

There are many publications from the railway companies including letters and reports to shareholders and rules and regulations for employees. There were many different railway companies in the 19th century -Manchester and Liverpool Railway, London and Northwestern Railway Company, Eastern Counties Railway, London and South Eastern Railway, Caledonian Railway, Stour Valley railway and the Cheshire and Crewe Railway were just a few of them. To find their publications search under the name of the company on the Library's catalogue. Some of them also issued maps covering the extent of their services, and timetables. There are a selection of these in the pamphlet collection including the Great Western Railway local timetable (HE1(42)/481) and the Eastern and North-Eastern Railway Timetable for 1851 (HE1(42)/482). Attempts at integrated timetabling included -"The ABC; or alphabetical railway guide" published in 1870 (HE1(42)/483) and Kellys rail directory 1859 (HE1(42)/485). There is a Robinson's railway directory published by the Railway Times in 1841 (HE1(42)/671). W.J. Scott's "The Great Western 1889-1902" is kept shelved at BP161330, MICROFILM M PAMPHLETS 16).

Railway safety and accidents

There are pamphlets on the issue of railway safety and accidents associated with the early years of the railway industry. Two examples of these are;- "Railway dangers and how to avoid them" by W. Peters, 1853 (HE1/29) and "Railway collisions prevented" by A. Ogan, 1855 (HE1/30). There was concern about the speed of trains, coupling of carriages and communication between railway staff and passengers.

A number of pamphlets from the Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company were published in the 1930s.

Railway economics

By the middle of the 19th century the finance of the railways in the UK had already become a problem. In 1866 W. Livesey wrote "A financial scheme for the relief of the railway companies, submitted to directors, shareholders and the public for their consideration" (HE1(42)/406) and in 1867 T. Wrigley wrote "Railway reform: a plan for the separation of capital from revenue" (HE1/(42)/380). A speech on railway amalgamations by S.R. Graves to the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce in 1872 is in the pamphlet collection (HE1(42)/250). There are pamphlets on the question of fares and rail use, for instance "Cheap railways for rural districts" by S. Ballard (HE1(42)/387) and, from a radical point of view -"Free railway travel: a proposal that the state should acquire and maintain the railways, making them free to the public like the highways" by Sir R.A. Cooper in 1890 (HE1/(42)/511), "Free rails and trams" (BP165950), MICROFILM M (PAMPHLETS 25), and "A zone system of passenger fares" published in 1891 (HE1(42)/425). Pamphlets were issued by the Railway Rates Committee, Travelling Tax Abolition Committee and the Railway Clearing House regarding fares, taxes and freight prices on the railways.

Nationalisation

Many pamphlets were written for and against nationalisation in the late 19th and early 20th century. The Railway Nationalisation Society issued a whole series of pamphlets from the 1890s onwards. Also "The case for railway nationalisation" was written by A.E. Davies of the Independent Labour Party in 1912 (HE1(42)/D16), the Railways Minority Movement published "Railway nationalisation: the argument in a nutshell" in 1930 (HE1(42)/B10) and F. Keddell wrote "The nationalisation of our railway system: its justice and advantages " in 1887, (HE1/(42)/458). On the other hand the case against nationalisation was argued by the London and North Eastern Railway in "The state and the railways: an alternative to nationalisation", 1946 (HE1(42)/665), by Mr Threlfall of the Anti-Socialist Union of Great Britain in "Shall the railways be nationalised?: Plain words to the railwaymen", 1909 (HE1(42)/A5) and by the Railway Stockholders Union. A.W. Pearse wrote "Failure of state ownership of railways and companies in Canada, Argentina and Sweden" published in Melbourne in 1909 (HE1/B3).

The British Railway's Press Office issued "Facts about British railways in wartime" in 1943 (HE1(42)/533).

The debate about rail nationalisation and privatisation was reopened in the 1990s and pamphlets on this subject have been published by the main political parties, and bodies such as Transport 2000 and the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy.

Decline of the railways in Britain

Pamphlets published in the latter half of the 20th century are concerned with the decline of the railway network, cuts in lines and competition from road transport.

There are pamphlets from the Branch Line Reinvigoration Society, for example, "Unprofitable lines" published in 1963 (HE1(42)/B12), from the National Union of Railwaymen- "The future of British railways" in 1962 (HE1(42)/B16) and from the Railway Conversion League and the Scottish Association for Public Transport. The National Standing Joint Committee on Road and Rail Traffic Problems produced the "Road and rail crisis" in 1962 (HE1(42)/E8) and "Passengers no more, 1952-1962:closures of stations and branch lines" a list of lines and stations to be closed, was compiled by Daniels and Dench in 1963 (HE1(42)/E9).A short review of the Beeching Report was published by the Great Central Association in 1965, written by E.R. Hondelink (fHE1(42)/G11).The National Council on Inland Transport published "Rail closure procedure: preparing a case of objection" in 1964, (HE1 (42)/B33).

Transport 2000 however saw a future for the railways and published a pamphlet on electrification called "An electrification case" in 1976(fHE1(42)/F28).

The Channel Tunnel

There are a few pamphlets in the collection on proposals for a channel tunnel. Some of these were published in the 19th century. For instance-"Shall we have a Channel Tunnel?": a lecture delivered by Lord Forbes in 1883 (HE1(42)/556), "The Channel Tunnel: ought the democracy to oppose or support it?" by Bradlaugh 1887 (HE1(42)/670), "A German opinion on the proposed Channel Tunnel by a German officer" published in 1832 (HE1(42)/B3) and "The Channel Tunnel: danger to England or no danger?" published in 1884 ( BP160267,MICROFILM M(PAMPHLETS 3)). There were a few more pamphlets on the subject in the early 20th century, including one published by the National Defence Association (HE1(42)/598) in 1907, but the issue does not get much publicity again until the 1970s, when publications opposing the construction of the tunnel were published by the Channel Tunnel Opposition Association and European Ferries Ltd.

There are also a couple of pamphlets on the proposed construction of a tunnel under the Irish Sea. In 1914 H.G. Tyrell wrote "A tube to Ireland: a remedy for Ireland's West and a plea for its commercial betterment by means of a constructive enterprise rather than by fruitless legislation, etc.". This was published in Chicago in 1914 (HE1(42)/596).

Railways in other countries

Just under half of this collection is about the history of railways in the UK. However there are substantial collections of material from other countries-notably India, China, South Africa and North America.

There are many pamphlets on the building of railways in India in the 19th century and the early railway companies such as the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company, the Karwar State Railway and the Scinde Railway Company. There are several pamphlets on the South Manchuria Railway Company in China and the Bagdad Railway (published in German). Pamphlets on the railways in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria were published in French and German, and the collection contains material on the construction of tunnels through the Alps. For example "Die deutschen Eisenbahnen" published in 1870 is shelved at BP204645, MICROFILM M (PAMPHLETS 63). The section on North America includes pamphlets from the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company of Canada, but the most substantial number are on the railways in the United States.

Railways in the United States

There are over 700 pamphlets on the history of railways in the USA. There are some pamphlets from the 19th century, published by the railway companies such as the New York and Harlem Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad Company.

The majority of pamphlets were published in the 1920s and 1930s and cover economic issues such as consolidation, state regulation and competition with highway transport. There is a whole set of bulletins from the Bureau of Railway Economics. The American Bankers Association published a report of railroad consolidation in 1926 (HE1(73)/187) and the Chamber of Commerce of the USA issued a report on the future of railroad transportation (HE1(73)/146). There are numerous publications from the Association of American Railroads, Association of Railway Executives, the American Electric Railway, the Committee on Railway Mail Pay , the Railway Business Association, the Railway Accounting Officers's Association, Interstate Commerce Commission, the National Association of Owners of Railroad and Public Utility Securities and the American Electric Railway Transportation and Traffic Association.

There are a number of controversial and comparative pamphlets on the subject of the American railways; for example "Railway regulation: the English system contrasted with the demands of the Interstate Commerce Commission" by W.D. Hines (HE1(73)/B83), "Federal control of our railroads" by P. Otterback of the Bureau of Railway Economics, 1920 (HE1(73)/D21), "Government ownership of the railways as unnecessary as it is undesirable: an address before the Conference on Southern Problems" by T. Harrison 1911 (HE1(73)/512), and "What is the matter with railway regulation?" by S.O. Dunn 1915 (HE1(73)/40). There are comparative statistics for the US, UK, France and Germany for 1900 and 1910 (HE1(73)/110), and two addresses on the American railway problems and progress given by Ivy Lee at LSE in 1910 HE1(73)/A9 and HE1(73)/A10).

To find pamphlets on railways search under the following headings

• Railroads-Early works to 1850
• Railroads and state
• Railroads-Government ownership
• Railroads-Management
• Railroads-Accidents
• Railroads-Safety measures
• Railroads-Signalling
• Railroads-Communication systems
• Railroads-Rates
• Railroad gauges
• Railroads-Finance
• Railroads-Fares
• Channel Tunnel
• Railroad tunnels
• Railroads-Maps
• Railroads-Timetables
• Locomotives
• Railroads-Abandonment
• Railroads-Consolidation
• Railroad law
• Railroad companies

These headings may all be subdivided by country. If using the London Bibliography of the Social Sciences search under "Railways", but search under "Railroads" on the Library's on-line cataloguing system.

Use "Chemins de fer" as a keyword to find material in French and "Eisenbahn" to find material in German.

^