Detailed history of locos

[GWR LNER fan 4472]

This is a long shot, but does anyone know of a full database of locomotives' operating lives? For example, class37.co.uk details the history of every member of the class - shed allocations, modifications, liveries, sighted duties etc. Does such a thing exist for other classes, especially steam? I've recently got into nitty-gritty details such as these and it's been fun looking through photo books finding the same locomotive at different times in its career.

[sxbiker]

A few years back DeAgostini published a series of books about railways. It was pretty comprehensive and amounted to around 40 volumes. I think these would be a source of lots of detail. They sometimes are available at around £7 on ebay.

Have you tried wikipedia? Some useful infor on there too.

[VESPA]

I have literally hundreds of railway books and believe me tracking a loco down to shed allocations can be a minefield. Several better known classes, in my case Britannias and Coronation Pacifics, do have much of the information required but I doubt class 37's would have so much detailed information, purely by their shere size of class. You have to remember all the livery changes as well. I would suggest picking out your favourite class of loco and then work your way through the various book sellers and publishers. Some books will be very detailed down to scale drawings and initially can be overpowering. There are some great bookshops out there that sell books heavily discounted. I always visit on in Llandudno when I am there as he has some really good bargains, all brand new.

[Fazy]

BRdatabase website. is a good starting point, you’ll get depo details. But you are going to need a book…. Well lots of books! Most classes now have a book written on them if not dozens depending on class. When building a model I try to get at lest 2to 3 books on the class if possible.

Wikipedia is a good starting point, when looking for say a class 37. Look it up on Wikipedia, take no notice of what it says as often it is wrong due to its editing ability. (University tells you to do this) Go to the bottom of the page and look up the references used. Then visit the sites stated or buy borrow the books.

oh yes and expect some books to disagree with one another, that’s why 3 books are better then 2.

[GWR LNER fan 4472]

Thank you all! The BR Database is exactly what I was looking for! Obviously to expand upon it, the books are best. The Pannier Papers series is perfect for what I'm thinking of, at least shed allocations, however I only have one volume of that series and can't find them online, will keep searching though. I've recently been tracking locos of the Brecon and Merthyr line, including 2251s and 64xx Panniers, so finding a list of all allocated to Brecon Shed for example is perfect! Thank you so much.

[Anglia998]

A very useful book is "British Railways Locomotives Combined Volume 1950" published by Ian Allen. Unlike others in this series, the 1950 edition includes Locoshed Allocations.

The ISBN for this book is 0-7110-3022-7

Another publication which may be useful is "British Railway Steam Locomotives 1948 - 1968" by Hugh Longworth priced at £35.00. despite the very comprehensive nature of the book, it does not include depot information, probably because locos were continually being re-allocated to different depots. ISBN is 978-0-86093-593-3

[atom3624]

I have a series of books called 'British Locomotives of the 20th Century by O.S. Nock' which cover various ranges - 2 I have next to me are 1930-1960, 1960-'Present Day' - printed in 1985.

O.S. Nock has often been a firm favourite author / compiler of mine.

Al.

[VESPA]

The nice thing about books, is that you can glean loads of info. An instance being my favourites, the Britannias. I have books with tender changes and indeed these are very relevant as one, Thomas Hardy, had a late BR tender from a Firth named loco fitted in it's latter days. Lord Rowallen was fitted with oval buffer from a Duchess in it's latter days. Many were outshopped in unlined passenger green. In later years, when nameplates were rmoved for security/sale, some had painted names applied by railwaymen, rather than let them lose the name. Owen Glendower had that name on one smoke deflector and Owain Glyndwr on the other. Some had fluted valve gear and others plain. Some a speedo fitted and others not. That is just a few details and the amount of differences over the 16 years of life, was massive. When I get a suitable Hornby model to rename and renumber I have to be very choosy to get as near as possible to the actual loco's fittings and looks.