Knowledge

These pages are devoted to research. The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway enjoyed an independent existence of 75 years and during that time produced many thousands of documents, the survivors of which provide the most reliable source for researchers.

Most surviving documents are in a relatively small number of collections: the National Archives at Kew, the National Railway Museum at York and those belonging to this Society which are housed at the Manchester Archives in Manchester Central Library. The libraries of the major engineering institutions have records of papers read by senior L&Y officers and the Intellectual Property Office, successor to the Patent Office, has records of inventions patented by officers and others involved with the L&Y.

Contemporary journals of the period are another useful source and there is a access to a list compiled by the Society of several thousand press references, each with a clickable link to a digital copy of the article.

Using modern technology we have been able to digitise many items from our own collection and, through the cooperation of other organisations, make available digitised copies from several sources.

Where copies are not available there are lists or links to lists to point the researcher in the right direction.

There is also a list of books on the L&Y and details of our own publications with an index of articles covering a period of over 30 years.

Please browse around and find something of interest – and if you enjoy what you see why not join the Society? Just click the Membership link.