The latest version of the database listing any Caledonian Railway staff identified through research has now been uploaded to the website - now containing over 38,950 entries.
This is another significant increase from the 38,000 records in the version uploaded in September 2024, and is driven by further research from the valuation rolls. Previously we had used these to identify the Station Master living at stations but this further research identified that the Caledonian Railway owned considerable rentable property, which is quite extensive in places such as Motherwell, Carstairs, Coatbridge, etc. including all Railway trades as well as Drivers and Fireman and Guards. This chance discovery has resulted in a significant number of additional entries to our list - which can downloaded from the Staff Records page.
The Valuation Rolls can be found on the Scotland's People website - enter "Caledonian Railway" in Valuation Rolls to list all the Property owned by the Company.
The Catalogue of the delights in our Archives has in the past usually been published twice a year, but the intention for 2025 onwards is to amend the catalogue on the Association website currently as any new acquisitions become available for research. It can be accessed on-line by clicking on “Archives” in the headings across our Home page. At the year end, it will be made available in pdf form, and the December 2024 edition may now be downloaded here
Some new arrivals are shown below:
CRA6/2/19
Bishopton Station - CR drawings of Up Platform buildings.
?1840
CRA6/4/8
Glasgow Central, Clyde Bridge and Signalbox - lengthy drawing of entire west elevation, possibly prepared for Matheson's lecture to Institution of Civil Engineers. Fragile
?1908
CRA8/2/16
Edinburgh Morrison St. Mineral Yard and environs - Ordnance Survey Map (shows Haymarket station when still with only two through lines and one tunnel)
1895
CRA2/2/1/1/7
Conveyance of Manure for Glasgow. Extracts from Acts
1865,1882, and 1887
Still being processed is an exceptional collection of 12 original Scottish Central drawings of its bridges and structures. A way has been found to digitise these, and they should appear in due course for download by members on our webshop.
Physical visits to our Archives, held on our behalf by the Glasgow University Archive and Special Collections at congenial Thurso Street, Glasgow, are always rewarding, but need to be booked in advance. Bookings can be made via: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/archivespecialcollections/bookanappointment/ and choosing the Thurso Street section. If you want to make special arrangements to combine with holidays or travel, then discuss requirements via library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk
Another publication from the Association, in association with the North British Railway Study Group, Three Generations on Scotland's Railway is now available to purchase.
This is the story of grandfather, father and son who worked and lived on the railway during much of the twentieth century, and records the changes over those years. It does, however, much more, for it is a social history of life in those times, which spanned two world wars.
Further details and online booking can be found HERE
The latest publication from the Association, The Railways of Stirling, is now available to purchase.
The late Donald Peddie spent many years assembling information for this book using his expert local knowledge and thorough research of local and national archives. All aspects of the history of the station and the surrounding facilities are covered. It is a fitting tribute to his memory.
The author, Michael Dunn, has spent the last ten years researching material for this book and amassing a large number of photographs and information to illustrate all aspects of the Caledonian Railway. The book takes the reader beyond the well-known photographs of the Caley’s engines and trains into less familiar corners, conveying some impression of the lives of those who worked for this major transport undertaking.
The late Montague Smith was a Scottish railway enthusiast who devoted much of his life to a study of the steam locomotive. He was an acknowledged authority on many aspects of locomotive design and also a well qualified photographer. Recently published by Black Dwarf Lightmoor this album features a selection of Montague Smith's photographs including many locomotives of Caledonian Railway origin.
Published by the Caledonian Railway Association and Lightmoor Press, The Dundee & Abroath Railway tells the story of the line which remains in use today as part of the East Coast Mainline having been operated jointly by the Caledonian Railway and North British Railway and their successors. The book will be launched at Model Rail Scotland in February 2023 and is available now for pre-order.
Recent updates to the shop have allowed the Caledonian Railway Company documents previously produced by the Association as printed copies to be available to purchase as downloadable pdfs from the website. The pdf file format allows the text of the documents to be searched.
Details of the full range of Company documents, which includes Working and Public Timetables, operational documents, diagram books and results of previous research including transcripts of handwritten documents and registers are available at the shop CR Documents page. The documents include the Appendix to the 1895 Working Timetable which has not been available before and contains a wealth of detail on the operations of the Caledonian Railway at that time - everything from Ambulance Appliances to Whistles Codes for Engines.
The shop will automatically apply members pricing for logged in users. This requires members to login to the website using the Registration link above. Please note that this is a separate log-in from that used currently for the Forum. As there is a manual check against the membership records before your website membership, and the reduced pricing, will be activated it is worth registering now to avoid any future delays.
The Caledonian Railway Association and Lightmoor Press are delighted to announce the arrival in July of their latest eagerly awaited book
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