The Collection, which opened in November 1991, is housed on the first floor of Newton Abbot Library. Newton Abbot was chosen for the site because of the town's historical significance as a railway centre. Newton Abbot had an important main line station and was the location for a large locomotive shed, engine repair depot and carriage wagon works.

The Collection covers all aspects of railways and contains a wide range of material of interest to railway and social historians, writers, researchers, modellers and people concerned with the contemporary railway scene.

Geographical coverage of the Collection is comprehensive for the West Country from the GWR and LSWR periods to the present day. There is substantial coverage of the remainder of the UK railway network with a limited amount of material dealing with railways in other countries.

As well as providing information on standard gauge railways, the Collection caters for other key areas of interest such as broad gauge, narrow gauge, industrial lines, miniature, underground and preserved railways.

The Collection contains books, leaflets, pamphlets, timetables, photographs, postcards, slides, drawings, illustrations, maps, railway society literature and periodicals. The wealth of information is arranged according to a classification scheme based on that used by George Ottley for his Bibliography of railway history. A guide to this scheme is available in the library. Indexes to the Collection are being devised by the library staff to allow detailed subject access to the railway literature and related material. A list of periodical titles held is available on the web.

How to get there:
By road: there is a large pay and display car park (entrance in Totnes Road) opposite the Library.
By rail: Newton Abbot is served by British Rail main line services between Exeter and Plymouth.
By bus: Newton Abbot is served by local buses and is a regular stop for national coaches.

Enquiries in person or by telephone are most welcome during the Collection's opening hours. Postal enquiries may also be made to the above address but because of limited levels of staffing it will not be possible to undertake research on behalf of postal or telephone enquirers. Photocopying facilities are available, subject to the provisions of copyright legislation and theere is a microfilm reader-printer in the Library.

Friends of the Railway Studies Collection.
This was set up in 1992 to support the Collection by fundraising and giving specialist advice. For current details of this organisation, please consult the Library Service's Community Information database.