One of the benefits of LCGB membership is access to a lending library of railway books - it is available to Members only. An extensive collection has been built up since 1965, which includes many items now rare on the secondhand market. It is housed on the ground floor of Keen House, a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross station. The collection ranges from published albums of photographs to the classics of railway literature and includes many of the titles reviewed in the Bulletin. There are also back copies of the Bulletin, available for consultation or loan.
For members living within range of London, the library is open before (from ca.18:00) and during the interval of Central London Branch meetings on the third Friday of each month. If you wish to borrow a book or books, speak to the Club Librarian, Robert Barker, who attends almost all Central London Branch meetings and will identify himself by wearing an LCGB club tie.
Members living outside London are-welcome to contact Robert using his home address, printed inside the front cover of the Bulletin, enclosing a land line number or stamped addressed envelope to enable requirements to be confirmed. Books will be sent to members at the Club’s expense by Royal Mail shortly after the next Central London Group meeting. The borrower is asked to return books to the Club Librarian’s home address within two months of receipt. DO NOT RETURN BOOKS TO KEEN HOUSE.
Use of the library is not available to non-members. Please include your LCGB membership number with an application to borrow books, whether borrowed in person or by post.
If the Librarian is not available at Keen House, please record the author, title and spine number of the book(s) you have borrowed, together with your name, membership number and the date when you borrowed it, in the blue ring binder on the chest of drawers beneath the clock. If returning a book in his absence, please record the date on the sheet, and leave the book close to it for the Club Librarian to check it off on his records and return to the shelf.
LCGB Library Catalogue - An Introduction
The library catalogue is in the same numerical order as the books on the shelves, which are arranged in very broad subject areas. (Ignore Biggleswade, Croydon and St. Albans in the right hand column: these were the locations of books before the library was moved to Keen House.)
| 1000-1499 | Books on locomotives, predominantly steam, but including modern traction, are located here. There are books on specific classes of engine, or related classes such as Gresley’s Pacifics or BR ac electric locos. Also here are books on locomotive performance, as written by the likes of O.S.Nock, and the technical engineering which explains how engines work. There are also various Ian Allan abc’s and RCTS locomotive histories. |
| 1500-1699 | This section covers carriages, including those belonging to London Transport. There is the standard work on carriages by C.Hamilton Ellis as well as more specific titles, with a bias towards the LMSR and GWR. |
| 2000-2299 | This is where to find books on just about every railway of which you have ever heard, and a few which you probably haven’t. There are also regional histories, and books devoted to very specific lines such as the Weymouth Quay Tramway. |
| 2400-2599 | This is a complete treasure trove of railway interest. It is something of a librarian’s nightmare to classify in detail, and needs to be examined to spot the gems. Examples of titles to be found in this section are, “Railway Relics & Regalia”, “Countdown to 1968”, “Speed Records on British Railways”, “North Eastern Locomotive Sheds” and “18 inch Gauge Steam Railways”, plus a wide range of books about branch lines, stations, tickets, TPOs and more. |
| 2600-2699 | Remember those annuals: Locospotters’, Trains Illustrated and Railway World, which you hoped to receive as a Christmas present long ago. Some have ended up in the LCGB library, and are just the thing to rekindle memories of a well spent youth. |
| 2700-2799 | This small collection of books on electric railways also includes tramways. |
| 2800-2899, 2930-2999 | This section is devoted to signalling, “rules” and the accidents which followed when rules were ignored. |
| 2900-2929 | This is where books about railway operation in two World Wars are to be found. |
| 3000-3999 | The railwaymen’s biography section, mostly devoted to Chief Mechanical Engineers, but also people like Gerry Fiennes, the BR (E) manager who became notorious in the 1960’s and reminiscences of experienced men like J.M. Dunn, Allan Garraway and Dick Hardy. |
| 4000-4999 | This is the part of the library devoted to railway atlases and tabulated information, such as stocklists and lists of locomotive allocations. There are some Ian Allan abc books here including headcodes, which can help in identification of old photographs. |
| 5000-5999 | We have a wonderful collection of railway photograph albums, both black & white and colour, steam and modern traction. There are personal portfolios of famous photographers such as Hugh Ballantyne, Colin Boocock and Colin Gifford, and many lesser known men. There are also albums devoted to specific areas, or specific types of engine. Bradford Barton and Oxford Publishing Co. titles are represented, and spine numbers from about 5450 upwards are mostly from the Middleton Press ultimate rail encyclopedia. |
| 7100-7152 | This is a complete set of Trains Illustrated from issue No.1 of 1946 until it was re-titled at the end of 1961. Note that post war paper shortages meant that it only appeared irregularly when first published. |
| 7300-7399 | There are bound copies of LCGB Bulletins from Vol 2 1950 to the 1990’s in the library. |
| 7700-7705 | Modern Tramway from January 1965 to December 1969. |
| 8000-8299 | The Club possesses an excellent collection of books about overseas railways, including some in German and other languages, once again with a bias towards steam, and probably reflecting the era when many of us began to look at railways beyond Great Britain. Note that the library treats Ireland and its railways as “overseas”. |
A full list of books is available for download here.