Books
We have approximately 20,000 books in the Book Collection, spanning pre-railway history up to the present day.
Many of the books are on open shelves in Search Engine, our library and archive centre, and freely browsable (and arranged by subject area).
The remainder is in our store, but staff can retrieve these for you at regular intervals – the Library Catalogue will tell you if the book you are looking for is in store.
We also have storybooks for children and books suitable for school project work. So whatever the level of your interest, and whatever the railway theme, you should find something to interest you.
Rare books
Currently all books published before 1875 are classed as "rare" and need to be consulted in our archive research rooms. You will know if a book is classed as "rare" as it will have the letter 'R' at the end of its shelf-mark on the Library Catalogue.
The oldest book in the collection is John Curr's The coal viewer, and engine builder's practical companion. (Sheffield : Printed for the author by John Northall, and sold by I. & J. Taylor, London, 1797.) It's not only the oldest book we have, but also the first book to print information and details on an iron railway.