Railways in most developed countries reached their peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before the motor car and the passenger aircraft took away many of their customers. Millions of people worldwide were employed on the trains, at the stations, as well as in the offices, workshops and factories. Most of us probably have railway ancestors such as drivers, firemen, cleaners, guards, inspectors, clerks, engineers or managers.
This post is a round up of some of the key online genealogy resources available to help find those railway ancestors.
Findmypast
The subscription site has a number of railway collections from Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as follows:
- Australian Imperial Force, Nominal Roll Of The First Railway Section 1917-1920
- British Army, Railwaymen Died In The Great War
- Canada- Railways, Steamships & Steamboats In Canada
- Derbyshire, Derby Railway Servants’ Orphanage Registers, 1875-1912
- Great Western Railway Shareholders 1835-1932
- New South Wales, Railway Employment Records
- New Zealand Railway Employees 1896
- Ontario, Canada- The Great Western Railway
- Queensland Railway Dismissals 1879. Ipswich and Rockhampton Railway Workshops
- Queensland Railway Employees
Ancestry
This subscription site has several railway collections from the US, Australia and the UK as follows:
- Web: UK, Register of Railway Employee Injuries and Deaths, 1911-1915 (data from the University of Portsmouth and the National Railway Museum)
- The Railway and Commercial Gazetteer of England, Scotland and Wales 1907 (browse only)
- UK, Railway Employment Records, 1833-1956
- England, Southern Railway Magazine: Jan 1840 – Feb 1942
- Scotland, Highland Railway Company, January 1854 – 1900
- England, Great Western Railway Magazine: 1838-1943
- Railway Gazette Worldwide Historical Data, 1860-1930
- Utah, Select Union Pacific Railroad Personnel Records, 1890-1965
- The origin, progress and vicissitudes of the Mohawk and Hudson Rail Road : and the first excursion on it
- All rail to Long Branch
- From Indian trail to electric rail : history of the Atlantic Highlands, Sandy Hook, and original Portland Poynt
- London, England, London Transport Staff Registers, 1863-1931
- S., Railroad Retirement Pension Index, 1934-1987
- Western Australia, Railway Records, 1879-1986
- S., Chicago and North Western Railroad Employment Records, 1935-1970
- California, Railroad Employment Records, 1862-1950
- The street railway operations of the Elmira Water, Light, and Railroad Co. : its predecessors and successors, 1871-1939
The Genealogist
Like Findmypast, The Genealogist is a UK based subscription site and has a Railway Employment Record collection.
Family Search
This free site run by the Mormon Church has many railway related record sets (mostly browse only PDF books). Here are some of them:
- Cram’s township and rail road map of Kansas
- Altoona : a vigorous city that has contributed in liberal measure toward the development of that great American institution — Rail transportation
- Atlas of Wabash county, Indiana : from actual surveys … to which is added a township map of the State of Indiana, also an outline and rail road map of the United States
- Atlas of Waukesha Co., Wisconsin : drawn from actual surveys and the county records, to which is added a rail road & sectional map of the state of Wisconsin
- A gazetteer of the state of New York: comprising its topography, geology, mineralogical resources, civil divisions, canals, railroads and public institutions; together with general statistics; the whole alphabetically arranged.
For a full list of their railway collections go to the Family Search Catalog and use the Keyword function to search for railroad or railway related material.
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum in York, England has a large railway archive. Most records can only be consulted by visiting the museum. See their Family History page for information and access to the catalogue.
The NRM is part of the Science Museum and its website has access to a number of online railway collections such as posters and photographs that you may find useful.
Railways Archive
This free site has access to over 5000 historical railway documents and 9000 accident reports.
London Transport Museum
The London Underground system is one of the World’s largest urban rail systems and therefore a significant employer. The library attached to the museum has a large collection of records relating to the Underground and its predecessor companies like the Metropolitan Railway. Note, that many Underground employment records can be found online at Ancestry (see above). For information about visiting the Library see this page.
Visit the Online Collections page to explore the large amount of material available to view such as photographs, films, artwork, sound recordings etc.
The National Archives
The National Archives in London hold employment records for most of the railway companies that existed in the UK before nationalization in 1948. See this guide for more information about the records held. Most of the online staff records are available only via Ancestry (see above). Staff records for the Nationalized British Railways (from 1948) will be held by the county records for each of the BR regions. To find a county archive see my English, Welsh and Scottish directories.
National Records of Scotland
The largest collection of records relating to Scottish railways is held by the NRS. In most cases these records can only be accessed by visiting the archive in person. More details about this collection can be found in this guide.
Rail Map Online
This site links to historical and current interactive railway maps of the UK and the US.
Happy researching!
For further reading, you may find these books useful:
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My husband and I both have railway ancestors
Lt Col George Henderson was one of the founders of a London to Scotland RR born 1783 d 2854 London
Thanks for your comment. Great that you have such a prominent railway man as an ancestor!