A lot of railway modellers have a lot of railway-related books, and I'm steadily building up my own collection. But not all railway modellers have all the books they need (or can even afford!). After being lucky enough finally to find a reasonably-priced edition of the Illustrated History of Southern Wagons Vol 1, it occurred to me that the forum might need a look-up section.

Anyone who's interested in helping out could list all their reference books and provide look-up help when requested (within reason and according to time available, of course). What do you all think?

Brilliant idea Pete33 

Perhaps it could also be used by those wanting to post a question asking for lookup help. At the moment I am trying to find information on Harrogate station , Yorkshire around 1965 and the Nidd Valley Line especially Darley station as I hope to start modelling these next year. Have found some information in  'Railway memories 24 Harrogate and Wetherby' but need much more.

Colin H

I had the idea because genealogy research has much the same resource, with people volunteering to look up parish records and other sources of information. They list what they have available and you contact them with a research request, providing as much information as possible.

I guess this would need a separate section on the forum. Somewhere to list all the reference resources and somewhere to run the query threads. Over to you, Tank.

Damn - another post went into the spirit world so I'll try again

It's a great idea, Pete, but I have too many to list so am just happy to respond where I can help on an ad hoc basis. I think we should make this a sticky so that folks can post their questions here and hopefully get responses from those who have the necessary info to hand or are prepared to look it out for fellow members

Quote from: newportnobby on December 10, 2013, 01:16:53 PM
Damn - another post went into the spirit world so I'll try again

It's a great idea, Pete, but I have too many to list so am just happy to respond where I can help on an ad hoc basis. I think we should make this a sticky so that folks can post their questions here and hopefully get responses from those who have the necessary info to hand or are prepared to look it out for fellow members

I'm more organised than you, Mick. I already have every item of rolling stock and every book catalogued in an Excel list. 

Happy to help with any Baltimore & Ohio related questions, though I think I may be quieter than most    with the exception of Alex and his BAR and WPR stuff 

Quote from: Pete33 on December 10, 2013, 02:11:13 PM

Quote from: newportnobby on December 10, 2013, 01:16:53 PM
Damn - another post went into the spirit world so I'll try again

It's a great idea, Pete, but I have too many to list so am just happy to respond where I can help on an ad hoc basis. I think we should make this a sticky so that folks can post their questions here and hopefully get responses from those who have the necessary info to hand or are prepared to look it out for fellow members

I'm more organised than you, Mick. I already have every item of rolling stock and every book catalogued in an Excel list. 

Not so fast, Moriarty
I have all my stock on a spreadsheet but putting the books in has never occurred to me.
Summat I should maybe do

Quote from: newportnobby on December 10, 2013, 02:31:28 PM
Not so fast, Moriarty
I have all my stock on a spreadsheet but putting the books in has never occurred to me.
Summat I should maybe do

Watch it or I'll shove you over Reichenbach again. 

I find it handy because if I suddenly spot a bargain book online then I don't have to go upstairs and check whether I have it already (I'm saving up for a working memory but it might take some time).

I'm happy to help and look stuff up but like Pete 33 I have too many books to list.
I'll happily respond to enquiries though.

Nah, I don't have too many to list. In fact they're already listed, but just throwing them into the thread here means that they'll be a little lost. A notice board at the top of the thread would be handy, with user names of the owners.