The Industrial Railway Society was founded in 1949 as the Birmingham Locomotive Club - Industrial Locomotive Information Section. The Society is the leading organization in the United Kingdom devoted to the study of all aspects, and all gauges, of privately owned industrial railways and locomotives, both at home and overseas. Collieries, opencast coal pits, steel works, gas works, peat bogs, Ministry of Defence depots, engineering works, docks, electric power stations, etc., are all covered by the Society. Also details of various railway preservation groups and their locomotives, etc.
Steam, diesel, petrol (gas), battery, and electric locomotives.
Standard gauge. Narrow gauge.
Tunnelling locos. Ex-British Rail locos. Underground locos.
Membership benefits include a quarterly printed
illustrated magazine, the 'Industrial Railway Record'; a
bi-monthly newsletter the 'Bulletin' giving topical news, in addition to all Society news;
access to a well-stocked library; discounts on Society publications; visits to industrial
railway locations; occasional rail tours; a book sales service;
and photograph sales from the Society's negative collection. We frequently publish extra
'amendment Bulletins', which contain up-dates and amendments to various IRS Handbooks -
you will find at least one of these 'specials' with most issues of the regular Bulletin.
The IRS also arranges
evening visits in the London
area from May to August,
and evening meetings in
London in the winter, as well as the annual general meeting in Spring.
In addition a range of illustrated historical handbooks are published, covering all known industrial locos, area by area in the UK, plus some other countries. Other books include loco builders histories, company histories, and an invaluable guide book listing every current industrial and preserved loco in the whole UK. IRS publications are usually offered to members at a substantial discount on the normal purchase price. Click on the 'Publications' link for more details.
There are two forms of membership available for the IRS, Full and Bulletin Only. A Full member receives the "Bulletin" newsletter 6 times a year; the various amendment and special Bulletins as they are published; our magazine the "Industrial Railway Record" 4 times a year; plus all the extra benefits of access to the society library, reduced prices for our publications, etc. A 'Bulletin Only' subscription is the same as Full subscription, with the one difference that you do not get the 'I.R.Record'.
It is also possible to take out a subscription for just the "Record", but it should be made clear that 'Record-only' subscribers are not considered as members of the IRS and do not receive any of the extra privileges of IRS membership.
| One Year (July 2008 - July 2009) |
Two years (July 2008 - July 2010) |
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| Full membership | £21.00 | £40.00 |
| 'Bulletin-only' membership | £13.75 | £25.50 |
| 'Record' subscription for non-members |
£15.50 (4 issues) |
£28.50 (8 issues) |
Note: from issue No.192 individual copies of IRR will cost £4.00 each
All these prices are in British pounds (£). All membership subscriptions run from July, but members who sign up now will also receive the May 2008 Record (No.193) and Bulletins while stocks last.
A membership application form - in Acrobat (PDF) format - can be downloaded from the Downloads page.
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To encourage membership of the Society, we are making special offer to new members. If you sign up for FULL membership (not 'Bulletin-only' or 'Record-only') then you will also receive one of the following IRS publications as a FREE GIFT (on request):- 'Industrial Railways of Manvers Main and Barnburgh Main' (Soft cover) 'Tramways & Railways of John Knowles (Wooden Box) Ltd' 'Industrial & Preserved Locos of Germany - Part 4 : Baden-Württemberg & Bayern' 'Industrial Locomotives of Western France' When applying for membership, please indicate which of the above books you would like as your free gift. Remember the offer is for one book only per subscription. |
UK Cheques/Postal orders to be made payable to "Industrial Railway Society". Payment can also be made by Giro transfer to account No: 56-943-4203.
Foreign orders: We can only accept cash or cheques in UK Sterling, due to the exorbitant bank charges for converting foreign currency and foreign cheques. Please note that we can no longer accept French bank cheques.
The IRS can now accept foreign credit card orders via the PayPal
system. Please go to the PayPal page for details.Interested? Then why not write to the IRS Hon Membership Secretary, who will gladly provide further membership details. Please enclose two first class stamps (or an International Postal Reply Coupon if writing from overseas):-
B.Mettam, 27 Glenfield Crescent, Newbold, Chesterfield, S41 8SF, ENGLAND