Research and archive

Due to COVID-19, Search Engine is closed to the public until further notice. While Search Engine is temporarily closed, our collection⁠—and the inspirational stories it contains⁠—remains open to you online. You can find further information about the archives we care for via our online collection and the archive catalogue.

We offer a free enquiry service to help you find out more about the items in the Science Museum Group Collection. Please contact us via email at search.engine@railwaymuseum.org.uk. We would normally aim to respond to enquiries within 20 working days, however responses may take longer at the moment due to COVID-19. 

Whatever you're interested in, from engineering and industry to the social history of railways, our research and archive facilities are here to help.

If you're looking for more information about a particular area of railway history and engineering, Search Engine is the place for you.

Find out how to plan a research visit.

A magnifying glass is used to read an old document

Catalogues

Find lists of the drawings and archive materials we hold in our collections and search our online catalogues.

A Draughtsman working on the drawing of the connecting rod big end for British Railways Standard Class 5, 6 and 7 locomotives at Doncaster Works in about 1958.

Copying and Copyright

Order prints, check our copyright restrictions, and find out how to copy our books, magazines and archive materials.

Plan a research visit

Find out everything you need to know about our library and archive facilities before your visit.

Women workers assisting a blacksmith in the forge at the London & North Eastern Railway's Doncaster railway works, 14 August 1943.

Family history

Researching a family connection to the railways? Find out how to get started on your search.

Drawing of improvements that could be made to parts of locomotives as specified by Robert Stephenson, by J Farey, 22 December 1841.

Further resources

Discover information and resources to help you on your research journey.

Our research

We're at the cutting edge of contemporary research into the railways.

National Archive of Railway Oral History

Discover over a thousand hours of intriguing stories from people who worked on the railways.

Science Museum Group Journal

The Science Museum Group Journal presents the global research community with peer-reviewed papers relevant to the wide-ranging work of the Science Museum Group. The journal freely shares the research of the Group's museums, including the National Railway Museum.

Uncovering the secrets of Canadian Pacific

Article

The oldest and fastest surviving Merchant Navy class locomotive in preservation hides a secret: it was built in 1941 at Eastleigh Works, where half the workforce was female.

Challenges of conservation: working objects

Article

This paper discusses the conservation of science and industry collections, arguing that visitors should be given greater physical access to museum objects.

Navigation links

Catalogues

Copying and Copyright

Plan a research visit

Family history

Further resources

Our research

National Archive of Railway Oral History

Science Museum Group Journal

Science Museum Group Journal

Uncovering the secrets of Canadian Pacific

Challenges of conservation: working objects

Part of the Science Museum Group