I wonder if anyone could point me in the right direction. My late dad had an extensive collection of The Railway Magazine, bound copies in wonderful condition from 1932 onwards. I don’t know where to start with finding a new home for them. Any ideas? Thank you.
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Advice needed on what to do with collection of old railway magazines.
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DelW
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Welcome to RUK forums!
If you're looking to sell the collection, there are a number of auctioneers who specialise in "railwayana", as well as specialist dealers in railway books and publications. The small ads in the back of e.g. Railway Magazine (available in WH Smith) would be one place to look (as well as search engines of course).
You could even put in a small ad yourself - I noticed one in May's issue of RM offering bound copies dating from between 1940 and 1969.
If you're just looking for a good home for them, many heritage railways have second-hand book shops, whose profits help to support the line. The Kent and East Sussex at Tenterden is well known, but there are others in the area as well. @paul1609 who posts on here is connected with K&ESR and might be able to advise further.
If you're looking to sell the collection, there are a number of auctioneers who specialise in "railwayana", as well as specialist dealers in railway books and publications. The small ads in the back of e.g. Railway Magazine (available in WH Smith) would be one place to look (as well as search engines of course).
You could even put in a small ad yourself - I noticed one in May's issue of RM offering bound copies dating from between 1940 and 1969.
If you're just looking for a good home for them, many heritage railways have second-hand book shops, whose profits help to support the line. The Kent and East Sussex at Tenterden is well known, but there are others in the area as well. @paul1609 who posts on here is connected with K&ESR and might be able to advise further.
swanhill41
Member
Market in terms of price has tanked since Mortons put the back issues on disc.Something silly like £10 and the disc takes up a lot less space.!
https://www.transportpasttimes.co.uk/index.php? may help. They sell a lot of timetables and other publications.
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Unfortunately this coincided with laptop manufacturers stopping putting disk drives in their machines.
Now that Ian Allan have got out of publishing it would be surely equally worthwhile for them to put the back catalogue of all their magazines on disk as well. The US Trains magazine has done the same, but rather poorly and they are a nuisance to scroll through.
a lot is on pocketmags.com But you cant download then, just view them on their rubbish reader
And boy, is it rubbish ...
EbbwJunction1
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You can buy an external DVD drive fairly cheaply. I did this when I bought my current laptop, so I could continue looking at my quite large collection of images.
I moved and needed space. So digital had to be an option.
nanstallon
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Preserved railways used to have a huge stack of old magazines on sale, and were happy to accept them from well-wishers. Nowadays, it is hard to find anywhere that will take them.
I still get a laugh when visiting second hand bookshops and seeing not all that old (say 2005) magazines being offered at £2 a time!
I still get a laugh when visiting second hand bookshops and seeing not all that old (say 2005) magazines being offered at £2 a time!
traction22
Member
Same with models from the 90s. It is bizarre when you see these people trying to flog that model for the (when new) RRP yet all its done for 20 plus years is to take up room.
As stated in an Alan Bennett play, you have to keep your stock moving.
swanhill41
Member
The majority of railway magazines fall into the news category..Read once and the bin..History mags such as Backtrack are lower volume and can be reread..Backtracks rarely offered up anywhere,inc preserved railways.
madannie77
Member
The Warcop Emporium on the Eden Valley Railway has for many years had a lot of magazines on sale, to the extent that a separate magazine room was planned. This has not happened and a serious cull is going to happen later this year, much as it hurts to dispose of material donated to the railway. As the local recycling centre is on land belonging to the Eden Valley Railway Trust (EVRT) it is not all bad, as the Trust gets a percentage of revenues raised.
Some of the news magazines are already disposed of quite quickly as they just do not sell. Others are kept for longer but rarely sell (even at the low prices offered), although there are two or three avid magazine collectors who turn up with long lists and take some of them. What does sell are the railway history mags, society mags and modelling mags. There seems to be quite a demand for modelling magazines from the 1950s and 1960s. If any from the 1930s or 1940s appears then they are snapped up very quickly.
The EVRT was fortunate to receive a large donation of railway history mags a couple of years ago and now has plenty on sale. All that is needed is for people to come and buy them.
Some of the news magazines are already disposed of quite quickly as they just do not sell. Others are kept for longer but rarely sell (even at the low prices offered), although there are two or three avid magazine collectors who turn up with long lists and take some of them. What does sell are the railway history mags, society mags and modelling mags. There seems to be quite a demand for modelling magazines from the 1950s and 1960s. If any from the 1930s or 1940s appears then they are snapped up very quickly.
The EVRT was fortunate to receive a large donation of railway history mags a couple of years ago and now has plenty on sale. All that is needed is for people to come and buy them.
By 'news magazines' do you include 'Modern Railways'?
swanhill41
Member
I have visited and bought from you at Warcop..What is refreshing is that you spell it out in a way that I was trying to say, but was not in the position to back it up with facts..This I know would be the position as well at the Vintage Carriage Trust at Ingrow.History sells,some society mags sell,news mags like Rail are for the recycling bin.
swanhill41
Member
My answer is yes ,as it is a news mag all be it,the premium magazine in that sector of the market
Gloster
Established Member
It may be indicative of a small but gradual change in the visitors to preserved lines: fewer ‘hardcore’ railway enthusiasts, and more families and coach parties. The former would happily spend an hour working through a pile of magazines and go away with a thick pile, while the latter would only buy an old magazine if they chanced to see an interesting picture on the cover.
madannie77
Member
We have a large pile of Modern Railways, but I think that is more likely because my colleague who looks after the Warcop Emporium is a subscriber to it and regards it as superior to the other "news" magazines. I see his point, but in truth we sell very few copies and I think it will succumb to the recycling centre later this year.
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