reference library

The Archive has an extensive Reference Library covering the railways of southern England. It includes over 2,000 published books, with many titles from publishers such as Middleton Press, Oakwood Press, Lightmoor Press, Irwell Press and Ian Allan, among many others.

The Library also holds a number of complete runs of magazines and journals, including the Railway Magazine, Locomotive Magazine, and the Southern Railway Magazine (the staff magazine of the Southern Railway). Society journals are collected from groups including the South Eastern & Chatham Railway Society, the Brighton Circle, the South Western Circle, the Southern Railways Group and the Southern Electric Group, as well as publications from southern heritage railways.

Most of the titles in the collection have been received as donations, and further additions are always welcome.

The Reference Library can be browsed on site by appointment.