Kidderminster Railway Museum Photograph Archive

What is the Kidderminster Railway Museum Photograph Archive?

The KRM Archive now numbers in excess of 150,000 plus black and white photographs as well as a large collection of colour slides. They cover most areas of the country, from Wick to Penzance, but there is naturally a bias towards the Great Western Railway system. They cover subjects from locomotives to carriages, permanent way, stations, staff and all manner of other railway subjects. The collection, which is continuing to grow, is run by volunteers with all the profits being used to help in the conservation of the archives. The reputation of the KRM within the museum community for the care of its archive together with its policy of providing ready access to the collections has won it many plaudits and further donations of collections. The archives are not normally open on a daily basis but visits are possible but only by prior appointment. Even though the volunteer staff are very accommodating speculative visits without prior arrangement often lead to disappointment. Please note that a small fee is payable for accessing the library.

Accessing the Archives by post

A postal service is available by writing to the address below stating your "wants" and enclosing a large stamped address envelope. The KRM will advise as to what is held within the collection and provides up to 60 mini visual images (each image having a caption) on five A4 sheets (12 images per A4 sheet) thereby taking out the guessing game when buying. There are no restrictions on the number of mini-images you may receive however a charge of 25p per additional A4 sheet is made over and above the initial 60 mini-images. An order form and price list is also enclosed although the KRM stress there is no obligation to buy. Requests should be specific. A request for a station is easily executable for KRM's staff but a request asking for photos of a particular route is not. In the latter instance, quote the relevant place names along the route as this will help the volunteer staff to turn your request around much more quickly. As the service is extremely popular orders can take 2 to 4 weeks to turn around, sometimes even longer if holidays etc are involved. KRM's policy on cheques is to present the cheque only when the order has been dispatched. If KRM cannot immediately help with any "wants" they will retain names and contact details in case at a later date a photograph matching your requirements becomes available.

Sizes and costs of Prints

The following sizes are available:

Black and White
3½" x 5½" £1.50p, 5" x 7" £3.OOp, 10" x 8" £5.00
Colour
5" x 7" £4.00, 10" x 8" £6.00

Larger sizes are available upon request. Photographs are printed on glossy resin coated paper. A 100% surcharge on each print is made for cropping or selectively printing a photograph to meet the customer's special requirements.

Postage and Packing

Orders for within the UK are despatched in stiff envelopes or tubes at standard postage rate. Please add the following charges for postage and packing to any order:

£1.00 for orders below £9.99p
£2.00 for orders from £10.00 to £25.00
£3.00 for orders from £25.01 to £50.00
£4 00 for orders from £50.01 to £75.00

Postage is charged at incremental rates on larger orders, whilst orders from overseas will be subject to an additional fee for overseas postage, available on request.

Payment

Please note payment must be made in advanced for all orders. For small amounts, this may be in the form of stamps. Cheques will not be presented until the order or part order has been dispatched. Payment should be made to the Kidderminster Railway Museum.

Reproduction and/or Publication

Permission to reproduce any photograph in any form whatsoever must be obtained in advance and in writing with reproductions in a publication subject to the payment of a reproduction fee.

Correspondence

For further enquires please contact us either by e-mailing photograph@krm.org.uk or visiting their website www.krm.org.uk or write to:

Photograph Archivist
Kidderminster Railway Museum
Station Approach
Comberton Hill
Kidderminster
DY10 1QX