Railways

Photograph copyright © University of Dundee Archive Services. Reference CMS 4/2/14 (21).

Archives Hub

Back in 2004 the Hub did a special feature on Railway history: 200 years of the steam locomotive. When we started the feature we couldn't have begun to realise how many archives collections there are on the Hub on the many different aspects of railways.

Here are just some of the collections the Hub has on inventors, railway engineers, and locomotive manufacturers:

• James Watt (1736-1819): collection relating to the inventor, engineer, and steam engine manufacturer
• Proposed London to Porth Dinllaen Railway: report by civil engineer Charles B. Vignoles (1793-1875)
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859): chief engineer of the Great Western Railway
• Glasgow Railway Engineering Co. Ltd: railway wheel, spring, and axle manufacturers
• North British Locomotive Company: major manufacturers of locomotives, formed in Glasgow in 1903
• George Bennie (1897-1952): inventor of the 'Railplane' monorail system

 

Copac

Copac is lucky enough to have the National Railway Museum as one of it's contributors. The library and archive collections at the National Railway Museum form one of the largest resources of railway and transport history in the world. The Library Collection is international in scope and covers all time periods.

Copac has over 400 records on Brunel alone, the following are all held at the National Railway Museum.

• The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, civil engineer / by Isambard Brunel. (1870)
• Some reminiscences of Isambard Kingdom Brunel / by his last pupil, Ernest Benedict. In: Great Western Railway magazine. Vol. 21, 1909, pp. 124-125; vol. 22, 1910, pp. 64-65.
• Brunel and after : the romance of the Great Western Railway / by Archibald Williams, with 78 illustrations. (1925)
• Brunel 200 : a celebration of the life and work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 2006, promoting innovation, creativity, design, engineering, arts and sciences. (2005)
• Brunel : a railtour of his achievements / Vic Mitchell. (2006)