Links to sources (updated 5th April 2026)
Please note that some links may indicate that they are broken. At the last time of checking, they were not. Should you find that any links are broken, please report this to webmaster@rchs.org.uk
We welcome suggestions for additions to this list of sources – please contact webmaster@rchs.org.uk
General archives
- The National Archives — over 32 million descriptions of records held by The National Archives and more than 2,500 other archives: usually the place to start your research
- London Metropolitan Archives
- London Transport Museum
- National Library of Wales
- National Records of Scotland – formerly National Archives of Scotland
- National Library of Scotland
- National Archives of Ireland
- National Library of Ireland
- Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
- Institution of Civil Engineers
- Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- Science Museum Group – library & archive at Wroughton (Swindon)
- Scottish Archive Network – catalogue of 20,000+ collections in 50+ archives
- Transport for London
- University of Glasgow – Scottish business archives including locomotive- and ship-builders
Railways
- Cumbrian Railways Association
- Great Eastern Railway Society
- Great Western Trust Museum & Archive (Didcot)
- Historic Model Railway Society (Butterley) – archives, drawings, photographs, timetables etc
- Ian Dinmore’s Rail Archive – A large collection of historical railway documents dating from 1811 to 1970, along with a small collection of photographs from 1970 to 1990.
- Industrial Locomotive Society
- Industrial Railway Society
- Irish Railways Record Society
- Interactive Maps – showing past and present railways, canals, trams and trolleybus systems for the UK and Ireland, plus historic US railroads
- Hopetown (history of engineering in Darlington) (formerly Head of Steam Railway Museum)
- North East Railway Association (NERA) Archive
- London & North Western Railway Society
- Midland Railway Study Centre (Derby)
- National Railway Museum (York)
- Network Rail – virtual archive
- Old railway permanent way – records concerning the appearance, design and development of British permanent way between the 1820s and the 1930s
- Signalling Record Society
- Welsh Railways Research Circle – research page
Waterways
- Canal & River Trust – archives at Ellesmere Port
- Canal Shareholders – a database (being developed) of canal shareholders in the 18th and early 19th centuries
- Canal Maps – a private archive of over 1,000 maps
- Interactive Maps – showing past and present railways, canals, trams and trolleybus systems for the UK and Ireland, plus historic US railroads
- National Maritime Museum
- Somersetshire Coal Canal Society
- Yorkshire Heritage Waterways Society
Road, Air & Other Transport
- British Trolleybuses – comprehensive online database (no longer updated)
- A History of Trolleys, Street Cars & Subways – a US website with links to museums & societies (mainly USA, but includes some international links)
- Omnibus Society
- Road Locomotive Society – researches and publishes on the history of all types of self propelling and portable steam engines
- Airship Heritage Trust
- Crich Tramway Village
Other Industrial History
Parliament and legislation
- Parliamentary Archives
- Legislation — search
- Public General Acts (from 1801)
- Hansard (from 1803)
- Hansard – UK Parliament (official report of all Parliamentary debates
- Members of Parliament
Miscellaneous
- Purchasing power of the pound (1270–date)
- Days of the week — days/dates
- British Climate History
- Listed buildings etc in England (Historic England)
- National Portrait Gallery