Bound typescript autobiography, 'The Record of a Busy Life', by William Adams, 1891, detailing his life in Chile, London, and the Midlands, including family history, family and associates, business, and other reminiscences, with a two-page printed biography from the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (vol cxxiv, Session 1895-1896, pt ii) inserted.

Records, 1926-1951, of the Chinese Government Purchasing Commission (CGPC), including information on the state of Chinese communications; the workings of the Chinese Ministries of Communications, Railways and Industries; Chinese banking; construction and engineering technology and the work of British manufacturers; and some information on Chinese educational and cultural institutions in receipt of subsidies from the Board of Trustees for the Administration of the Indemnity Funds Remitted by the British Government.

Records, 1926-1951, relating to the foundation and constitution of the CGPC comprise printed report of the Anglo-Chinese Advisory Committee (China Indemnity Advisory Committee), 1926; correspondence, largely letters from the Board of Trustees to the CPGC, 1931-1950, concerning the constitution of the Commission, procedural issues, personnel and financial matters; file on procedure on appointment of a new member of the Commission, 1947-1948; correspondence concerning events preceding the winding-up of the Commission, 1951.

Financial records, 1931-1951, comprise papers on the Board Account, 1937-1950; papers on the Chin Fund (apparently a grant paid to Constance Chin, a patient of the Bethlem Royal Hospital), 1945-1951; summaries of expenses relating to purchase orders made by Chinese ministries, 1931-1951; Indemnity Fund cash books, 1937-1950; invoices and receipts relating to CGPC business, 1937-1951; financial statements and correspondence relating to banking matters with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1931-1951, the subjects including investments and tax.

Operational records, c1928-1951, relating to the administration of purchase orders, comprise register of tenders/purchase orders, 1942-1946; contract registers (not comprehensive), 1931-1949, recording the management of contracts for the supply and delivery in China of plant, machinery and other materials manufactured in the UK for the Chinese government, and over 1,000 related contract files for engineering companies and manufacturers for industrial, construction, railway and other projects; tender forms, 1934, issued to contractors by the CGPC; specifications and standards, c1928-1937 and undated, largely for the construction of railways and carriages; correspondence concerning administration of purchase orders, 1932-1951, relating especially to delivery of locomotive spare parts and related materials; registers of export licences issue to British manufacturers under wartime regulations, 1941-1946; applications for export licences, 1939-1945; registers of shipments, insurance, freight and inspection fees, 1931-1951; shipping letters, 1937-1950, issued for CGPC shipments; general correspondence concerning the administration of the CGPC, 1931-1951, including correspondence with solicitors and correspondence concerning the CGPC premises in Tothill Street, London.

Annual reports and accounts, 1931-1950, comprise typescript accounts and reports, 1931-1950, of the CGPC and published annual reports, 1931-1950, including summaries of receipts and payments; and annual reports of the Board of Trustees, 1931-1938.

Miscellaneous records, c1932-1950, comprise one file including papers on subjects including railways, training Chinese students, Japanese imperialism, and CGPC records, a photograph of ships in harbour, and maps of China and the Far East.

Records, 1939-1943, of the China Purchasing Agency Ltd comprise standing regulations of the Board of Directors, undated; correspondence, 1939-1943, concerning various purchase orders; miscellaneous items, c1939-1940, including list of tenders passed for acceptance, 1939, and an undated schedule of materials shipped.

This series contains correspondence, memoranda, minutes and reports concerning the renewal and improvement of rolling stock on various lines including details of designs of rolling stock cars, the fiftieth anniversary of the District Line, the modernisation of equipment and the replacement of steam locomotives.

This series contains correspondence, memoranda and extracts from minutes primarily concerning the construction, provision and maintenance of vehicles.

This series contains memoranda and extracts from minutes concerning improvements to rolling stock, failures and delays, the replacement of vehicles, new equipment and facilities, expenditure on modernisation, and the investigation and testing of equipment.

Technical pencil drawing of front of locomotive and certain machinery from within the engine by unknown author.

This series contains tests, drawings and photographs of railway rolling stock, including details of the surface lines of rolling stock replacement programmes, a proposed rolling stock programme for the District, Circle and Metropolitan Lines, Chairman's conference minutes including financial details, National Service for staff, matters approved by the Chairman for submission to the Board, Special Expenditure Requisitions (SERs), air raid precautions, engineering first class traffic, the standardisation of signs, a station proficiency competition and emergency measures on railways.

Archives of the Peruvian Corporation, 1849-1967, comprising the surviving records accumulated at the London Office of the Peruvian Corporation. The bulk of the collection is an accumulation of files, most of which are dated after 1930, with a large proportion dating from the last ten years of the Corporation's history. Of more special note is the unusual series of photograph albums, with photographs of railways, scenery, locomotives and rolling stock dating from the early years of the 20th century. It is clear that the Corporation regularly destroyed groups of non-current records, and further papers were destroyed just before the collection reached the Library, so many expected series do not appear (for example, there are very few financial records). Apart from a full series of Annual Reports and some legal documents, there is very little material relating to the Peruvian Bondholders' Committee or to the early days of the Corporation.

Theatre and opera programmes from Ekaterinburg and St Petersburg, Russia, 1912-1913; Trans-Siberian Railway dining car menu, 1915; International Sleeping Car and Express-Train Company leaflet of Far Eastern services, with map and timetables, 1919.

The records consist of issues of TOT magazines, 1930, and a souvenir programme of a rugby match between London Underground Railways and the Union Sportive du Metropolitain of Paris, 1930.

Papers relating to British railway history, especially that of the Great Western Railway (GWR) and railways in the London area, including books, maps, periodicals, timetables and several thousand photographs, c1920s-1980s. The books represent a strong collection on British railway history from earliest times to the early 1980s. The collection is less strong in periodicals but there are some substantial runs of major titles. There is a large collection of early railway maps including Airey and Railway Clearing House (RCH) maps; also Ordnance Survey maps and railway junction diagrams, and a substantial collection of Bradshaw guides, and working and passenger timetables, with the following archival material:

Clinker Collection comprising notes and correspondence relating to the publications of Charles Ralph Clinker on railway history, particularly his Register of closed passenger stations and goods depots in England, Scotland and Wales, 1830-1977 (1963, revised 1978) and papers relating to his 1982 revision of the History of the Great Western Railway (London, 1964) by E T MacDermot; timetables, including those for the Bristol area, 1880s-1970s; General Strike, 1926; timetables during other strikes, 1920s; Great Western and Midland, various notices; Midland and South Western Junction Railway timetables, 1885-1947; operation instructions, GWR, London Midland and Scottish (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Southern Railway (SR); GWR working of stations, 1939-1965; LMS Railway train marshalling, 1943-1944; LMS timetables, 1890s-1940s; train arrangements during World War One and World War Two, 1914-1918, 1939-1945; papers relating to Broadgauge conversion; papers relating to Golden Valley Railway and Leominster-Kington Railway; ephemera relating to the Hay Railway, 1811-1977; Southern Railway plans for stations west of Salisbury, 1905- (mainly 1920s-1930s); Severn Bridge, General Manager's file, 1936-1943; logging of train performances, 1918-1927; books and periodicals, including rare and 19th century printed material on the early railway system, particularly guidebooks and station instructions.

Garnett Collection, mainly comprising railway maps, particularly those produced from 1869 by John Airey, an employee of the RCH, and subsequently by the RCH itself, and also includes Ordnance Survey maps and railway maps produced by the various railway companies; catalogues and research notes by Garnett, including lists of maps prepared by Airey and the RCH, 1869-1960; Macaulay [Zachary] series for Great Britain, Ireland and London, 1851-1908; notes on tramways and railways in Port Talbot area; catalogues of station handbooks, 1851-1956, and railway junction diagrams (the Airey and RCH maps, station handbooks and junction diagrams were used to determine ownership of stations and junctions for commercial purposes).

Research notes and photographs relating to Railway structures by Stuart Kear (9 vols); typescript of Chronology of the construction of Britain's railways, 1856-1922 by Leslie James; research notes by John Palmer on 19th century railway periodicals and the Eastern Counties Railway in its formative years; research notebooks and papers of Harold Vernon Borley on the history of railways in London, used for his Chronology of London railways (Railway and Canal Historical Society, Oakham, 1982).

Locomotive and General Railway Collection, featuring several thousand photographs (photographer unknown) of British locomotives, particularly steam trains, 1920s-1970s.

Wookey Collection, comprising several thousand photographs of British railway stations and signal boxes.

Mowat Collection (of Professor Charles Loch Mowat, 1911-c1969), comprising 2500 photographs in albums of railway scenes, 1926-1969 (mostly 1942-1969, with a few before 1924). These are mostly of small and medium sized railway stations (trains are generally incidental), covering most of the United Kingdom, with particular emphasis on the GWR and Wales, with coverage of Somerset and Dorset, Midland and South Western Junction, Lincolnshire, Midland Railway in the West Country, Great Eastern, Glasgow and Edinburgh Suburban, Bristol Suburban, Ireland, and narrow gauge lines in the UK such as Ffestiniog, Penrhyn, Bishop's Castle and Ditton's Prior. He also covered south east of Manchester in 1962, including the Hayfield, Macclesfield, Buxton (London North Western and Midland) and North Staffordshire lines. The collection also includes Mowat's index to his photographs and 14 notebooks containing track diagrams and notes on the stations he photographed, c1920-1969.

Records of the Union Construction Company, manufacturer of tube and tram cars, comprising minutes of Board meetings and minutes of General meetings.