Railway Subject Guide


The Information and Library Service compiles occasional subject guides for engineers and students. The aim is to highlight sources of information available in the library and the Institution itself, along with some useful websites to take you further afield.

Other guides available:
Aerospace | Automobile | Combustion, Engines and Fuels | Construction and Building Services | Energy, Environment and Sustainability | Fluid Machinery | Management | Manufacturing | Mechatronics, Informatics and Control | Medical Engineering | Power Industries | Pressure Systems | Process Industries | Railway | Safety and Reliability | Structural Technology and Materials | Thermofluids | Tribology

Download this guide (PDF 32 KB)

Locating Railway Information in the IMechE Library

The following is a list of key shelf numbers for the railway subject area. If you are looking for a particular book please check the Library Catalogue.

Topic Shelf Number
Contact mechanics 620.11251
Diesel locomotives 621.4382
Electric motors 621.313
Electric rail and trolley systems 625.6
Elevated rail and trolley systems 625.44
Freight wagons 625.24
History of locomotives 621.1302
Light railways 625.6
Locomotives 621.1302
Monorail, linear motor 625.43
Passenger carriages 625.23
Permanent way 625.14
Railway accidents 656.28
Railway histories 656.2
Rails and rail fastenings 625.15
Railway transport 656.2
Rapid transport systems 625.4
Rolling stock 625.2
Running gear 625.21
Tunnels 625.13

Useful Books

Practical railway engineering
(Bonnett CF)
656.2 BON

Light railways in England and Wales
(Bosley P)
625.6 BOS
Diesel traction manual for engineers
(British Railways)
621.4382 BRI
British railway track
(Cope GH)
625.1 PER
British railway track, vol. 5 switch and crossing maintenance
(Cope DL)
625.14 PER
British railway track, vol. 4 plain line maintenance
(Cope DL)
625.14 PER
Automatic train protection for the railway network in Britain
(Davies D)
656.28 DAV
Modern railway track
(Esveld C)
625.14 ESV
Electric traction
(Dover AT)
621.33 DOV
First RIA traction and rollingstock course 656.2 RAI
Electric motors and drives
(Hughes A)
621.313 HUG
Track compendium
(Lichtberger)
625.14 LIC
Railway safety brakes
(MacFarlane I)
625.25 MAC
Railway engineering
(Profillidis VA)
656.2 PRO
Red for danger
(Rolt LTC)
656.28 ROL
Railway stations: planning, design and management
(Ross J)
656.21

Railway Directories

Jane’s world railways 2005-06
Keeping track: the essential transport directory
Rail freight handbook
Railway Group Standards catalogue

E-books

The following titles are available via Knovel in the Virtual Library:

Challen B & Baranescu R eds, Diesel engine reference book 2nd ed 1999
Goryacheva I G, Contact mechanics in tribology 1998
Hester R E & Harrison R M, Transport and the environment 2004

Recent IMechE Railway Conferences and Seminars

Please visit Railway Papers and Presentations (Archive)

Useful Journals

The library has an extensive collection of journals including:

American engineer and railroad journal 1893-1911
Annual proceedings of the Railway Fuel and
Travelling Engineers' Association 1937-1951
Annual reports of proceedings of the American
Railway Master Mechanics' Association 1874-1918
Bulletin de le Commission Internationale du
Congres des chemins de fer 1887-1894
Developing railways a Railway Gazette yearbook 1974-1993
Diesel railway traction 1950-1963
Electric railway journal 1908-1931
European railway review 1995-2001
Journal and report of proceedings of the Permanent Way Institution 1927-1986,
Journal of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers 1911-68
LMS railway magazine 1923/24
The locomotive 1936/37-1996
Locomotive railway carriage and wagon review 1916-1959
Locomotives and railways 1900-1902
Modern railways 1962-
Moore's monthly magazine 1896
Locomotive magazine 1897-1915
Overseas railways 1948, 1957-1964
Proceedings of the American Railroad Association. Section 3: mechanical 1919-1932
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part F Journal of rail and rapid transit 1989-
Proceedings of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers 1923/25-1990/91
Proceedings of the locomotive and carriage superintendents' committee 1908-1926
Proceedings of the session of the Association of American Railroads: Operations and Maintenance Department. Division V - mechanical 1933/1935- 1969
Rail 1999-
Rail technology magazine 2002-
Rail traction bulletin 1960-n4 1965
Railroad and engineering journal 1887-1892
Railway age gazette 1913-1914
Railway engineer 1880-1935/35
Railway gazette international 1905-
Rail international Schienen der Welt 1970-2002
Railway locomotives and cars 1954-1969, 1971- 1974/5
Railway magazine 1897-
Railway mechanical engineer 1925-1952
Railway signaling and communication 1947- 1970
Railway steel topics 1952/53-1967/68
Railway strategies v11 2002-
Railway systems control 1970-1971
Revue generale des chemins de fer 1878-1983
Street railway journal 1905-1908
Swindon Engineering Society transactions
Traction and transmission 1901-1904
Transport 1892-1905
ZEV rail Glassers Annalen 1928-

Please check the Library Catalogue to see if the Library subscribes to your required journal.

E-journals

The following titles are available via EBSCO Business Source in the Virtual Library:

Canadian national railway SWOT analysis
Canadian pacific railway, Ltd. SWOT analysis
Central Japan railway company SWOT analysis
East Japan railway company SWOT analysis
Rail business intelligence
Railroad equipment industry yearbook
Railroad transportation industry yearbook
Railroads industry profile: global
Railway age
Railway gazette international
Road & rail industry profile: Europe
Road & rail industry profile: global
Road & rail industry profile: United Kingdom
Seibu railway SWOT analysis
Traffic world
West Japan railway company SWOT analysis

Databases

Please visit the Virtual Library page for information about the library's databases.

Websites

Please visit Railway Web Links


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