london transport museum friends news

Hidden Treasures
One of the requests from the
membership survey was for
more information on the
Museum Library.
Caroline Warhurst,
Information Services Manager,
rises to the challenge:
I am delighted to have the opportunity
through the pages of Friends News to tell
you a little bit about our extraordinary Library
collection at the Museum. It represents a
unique resource for researchers interested in
the development of urban transport and, as
such, is open to Friends of the Museum and
researchers of all kinds who come from all
over the world to access it.
We are tucked away behind the scenes at 35
Wellington Street, but support the work of
the Museum in a number of ways. Visitors
who come to the Museum are often inspired
by what they see on display and ask all
in the main galleries. So we work with
the Customer Service Assistants at the
Information Desk to resolve those queries
and also help researchers who visit the
Library in person. The Information Team also
responds to thousands of email enquiries
sent to the Museum from all over the world.
Queries come too from colleagues across
TfL, who need assistance with historical
research to inform current work or projects.
Between the two Librarians and the small
team at the Information Desk, we answer
around 10,000 enquiries each year. Of those
around 3,400 are more complex queries
requiring some degree of detailed research.
The Library collection has been painstakingly
assembled over time by many different
people, acquiring material from a whole
range of sources. What everyone involved
in building the collection has shared is a
concern with acquiring and preserving
information and evidence relating to the
That task continues today.
from 1921, when the Underground Group
established a library for staff use. Betty
Curtayne was the most notable member of
staff. She was appointed Librarian in 1941
and stayed until 1975! When the Library at
55 Broadway finally closed in 1984, the stock
was dispersed and the Museum Library
gained many useful additions.
The need to preserve associated documents
and research material was recognised as early
as 1951, when the report to the British
Transport Commission regarding the
preservation of relics and records began
the chain of events which led to the
establishment of the Museum collection
now at Covent Garden. By the time the
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current Museum opened in 1980, the
growing Library collection was located in
Bedford Chambers nearby. By 1986, the
Library had moved into 39 Wellington Street
and, in 1988 ,it finally came to rest in its
present location in 35 Wellington Street.
We now have a collection of around 14,000
of which 100 are current. Special collections
and the extraordinary ticket and ephemera
collection compiled by the Reinohl brothers.
These special collections are stored at
the Depot at Acton and accessible by
appointment. The Friends were instrumental
in enabling us to move these important
collections out of the increasingly cramped
accommodation at Covent Garden. Funds
were provided to install rolling stacks, which
allow us to store our material safely and
securely, in controlled conditions.
In providing an information service at the
Museum, I am very fortunate to be able to
draw on the huge experience of a number of
Museum Friends who between them have
many years of experience, either working for
London Transport or taking a keen interest
in transport outside their regular work. Some
of them have published excellent books
over the years, which form an important part
of the collection on our library shelves. Our
volunteers are enormously important in
helping us to ensure the responses the
Museum provides to enquiries are accurate
and authoritative.
We get tremendous satisfaction from
extracting hidden nuggets of information to
answer the tricky questions we receive.
Recent examples include: a writer wanting
to know what time the first train ran on the
Metropolitan line on a particular Sunday in
1886; another lady had to be given the
unfortunate news that her ancestor was
sacked as a horse bus driver in 1904 for
being drunk and swearing at the passengers;
a department in TfL asked for information
about passenger numbers in the 1930s; and
a researcher from France visited to study
the design and operation of the old
Underground power stations at Lots Road
and Neasden.
Sometimes you can uncover for someone
a small piece of information, which helps
them make sense of a long-standing family
mystery. Not long ago, a lady contacted us
wanting to find out if a particular bus route
operated on a very specific day in Brentford
during the First World War. It turned out that
the fire while her mother left her in the care
of an older sibling. In court, she had told the
judge she had had to walk to Brentford to get
food for her family, because there were no
buses, and so left her children for longer than
normal. We were able to confirm her sad
database.
Some questions come up repeatedly and we
try to cover those on our website. Where
can I find a map that shows me where the
Underground lines really go Why are buses
red Where was the first escalator installed
When did the last steam engine run on the
Underground You can check the answers
out by asking our Virtual Assistant.
As interest in all aspects of urban transport
grows past, present and future - I am keen
to recruit more experienced people as
volunteer researchers on to our team. If
anyone is interested in being added to our
friendly group of researchers and helping out
on an occasional basis by email, or by doing
some research in the Library, I would be
delighted to hear from them.
If you would like to visit and explore the
collection for yourself, just give us a ring on
our direct line and we can book you in.
Caroline Warhurst,
Information Services Manager.
Direct line to the Library: 020 7565 7280
Email: enquiry@ltmuseum.co.uk