The Museum's library holds a unique collection of books, pamphlets, reports and Acts of Parliament covering the history of British, North American, European and other foreign tramways and light railways up to the present day.
The Archive holds records of transport operators, including British Electric Traction, and those previously lodged with the Bus & Coach council, as well as the minutes of associations such as the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association and the Municipal Passenger Transport Association.
The extensive journal collection includes Tramway and Railway World, Light Railway and Tramway Journal, Electric Railway Journal, the Electrician and Electrical Review. We also have magazines of transport study and from other preservation societies world-wide. There is a large foreign language section.
The printed book collection contains descriptions of the world's tramway and light rail systems covering electric, steam, cable and horse traction. There is information on the manufacturers of vehicles and equipment, transport law and planning.
Many of the books and journals also contain material on buses, trolleybuses and metros, so the development of a town's transport can be studied in total. Other subjects studied by our researchers include the power industry, technical design, labour relations, town planning and the role of women at work.
There are collections of workshop and modelling drawings, maps and guides, timetables, press cuttings, tickets and general ephemera. The Library holds the small artefacts collection of badges, buttons, signs, uniforms, ticket machinery etc.
The Photograph and Film Archive covers the tramway systems of Great Britain and the world. The collections include negatives and glass plates, prints and commercial postcards.
If you have items which you think may be of interest to the Library, please contact the Museum to discuss their donation.
The library is currently closed to the public, whist expansions to the collection continue.
