Collecting Railwayana …. the formative years

BACK in March 2020, and in the midst of the first coronavirus lockdown, I decided to read through my back copies of The Railway Magazine (RM) covering the years 1961 to 1983. I was looking for references about railway artefacts; now known as ‘railwayana’. The magazine sometimes had photos of signs in situ as well as an occasional article; I noted a couple featuring platform lamps and mileposts. This was the time I started to take an interest in the wider aspects of the railway infrastructure and not just its motive power.

The advertising section caught my attention. In those days was a conveniently sized magazine that would fit in a blazer pocket. Filled with the latest information and informative articles, there was little space for adverts. You would find an occasional request for tickets and ephemera in the section headed Miscellaneous Advertisements. It wasn’t until the end of 1963 when the page size of the magazine was enlarged that