{{Short description|English publisher specialising in railway topics}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}} {{Use British English|date=March 2015}} [[File:GWR 4038 on Cornish Riviera Express.jpg|thumb|[[Cornish Riviera Express]] around 1910, on a Locomotive Publishing Co. postcard]] The '''Locomotive Publishing Company''' was an English [[publishing house]], specialising in [[railway]] topics. It was noted for publishing ''[[Locomotive Magazine]]'', amongst many other highly regarded titles. It was also notable as one of the first [[photo library|stock photo libraries]], in this case specialising in railway images.
== History == The company was preceded in the final years of the 19th century by 'F. Moore', a railway artist and photographer who published ''Moore's Monthly Magazine'', the first widely popular railway magazine.<ref name="Railway World, F Moore" >{{cite journal |title='F. Moore': the story of a notable railway artist |author=Webster, V.R. |journal=Railway World |year=1984 |issue=45 |pages=582–591 }}</ref> In actuality, 'F. Moore' was the pseudonymous pen-name for two brothers, A.R. Bell and A. Morton Bell, both apprentices at the [[Stratford Works]] of the [[Great Eastern Railway]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Locomotive Publishing Company |publisher=[[National Railway Museum]] |url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?W=4&F=0001&Step=1 }}</ref>
They began as a photo library, trading between the increasing number of amateur photographers of railways and the growing interest of enthusiasts. A third brother, Walter John Bell, and another apprentice, A.C.W. Lowe, became involved from 1896 with the launch of ''Moore's Monthly Magazine''. From the 13th issue in January 1897, this was renamed as ''The Locomotive Magazine''.<ref name="Railway World, F Moore" /><ref name="NA" >{{Cite web |title= Locomotive Publishing Company collection of railway photographs |publisher=The National Archives |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=756-lpc&cid=0#0 }}</ref>
''The Locomotive Publishing Company Limited'' was established in 1899.<ref>''The Locomotive Publishing Company Limited'' was registered with Companies House on 28 April 1899, as company number 61795. They are still registered, as a dormant company.</ref> It began at 9 South Place, Finsbury, moving within the year to 102 [[Charing Cross Road]] and in 1903 to their better known long-term address of 3 [[Amen Corner, London]].<ref name="SI, Moore" >{{Cite web |title=F. Moore |url=https://steamindex.com/locomag/moore.htm |publisher=steamindex.com }}</ref> Amen Corner is at the west end of [[Paternoster Row]] where it joins [[Ave Maria Lane]], near [[St Paul's Cathedral, London|St Paul's Cathedral]]. Paternoster Row was long associated with the publishing trade in London. This building had been built as a residence in the 17th century, during the great rebuilding of the area after the 1666 [[Fire of London|Great Fire]]. After being bombed out during the [[London Blitz]] of 1940, they moved to [[Horseferry Road]].<ref name="NA" /><ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" >{{Cite web |title=Locomotive Publishing Co. |publisher=steamindex.com |url=https://steamindex.com/library/locopub.htm }}</ref>
In 1956,{{efn-lr|1951, per <ref name="NA" />}} the company was sold to another publisher specialising in railways, [[Ian Allan Publishing|Ian Allan]], and relocated to Surrey. This sale had been precipitated by the [[death duties]] owing after the death of one of the three partners, W.G. Tilling.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" />
In 1992 the archive, together with its associated rights, was acquired by the [[National Railway Museum]], with the assistance of the [[National Heritage Memorial Fund]].<ref name="NA" />
== Notable people ==
=== Bell, Alfred Robert === One of the two founding brothers, and editor of the ''Locomotive Magazine''.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> Of the brothers, he was the one who dedicated most of his career to the publishing company. "A man of huge girth with a mass of white hair".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steel |first=Ernest Alfred |last2=Steel |first2=Elenora Howard |title=The Miniature World of Henry Greenly |year=1973 |publisher=Model & Allied Publishing |isbn=0852423063 }}</ref>
=== Bell, Arthur Morton {{anchor|A. Morton Bell}} === Although one of the initial two brothers behind the publishing company, he focused on his engineering career. After serving an apprenticeship at the GER's [[Stratford Works]], he rose to a position of some seniority in the locomotive department. He was involved in the trials of [[James Holden (locomotive engineer)|Holden]]'s oil-burning locomotives and this work on oil firing would be a theme for the rest of his career, around the world; at the [[Kursk, Kharkov and Sevastopol Railway]], the [[Austrian State Railway]]s, the railways of Sicily, and, in the United States, on the [[Pennsylvania Railroad|Pennsylvania]], the [[California Southern Railroad|California Southern]], and the [[Los Angeles Terminal Railway|Los Angeles Terminal]].<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> In 1897 he was appointed the first manager of the GER's new wagon shops at [[Temple Mills#Wagon works|Temple Mills]].<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> By 1900, he joined the [[Royal Dutch Shell|Shell company]] and traveled throughout Europe, Turkey and Egypt as a consultant for oil fuels.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> In 1903 he was appointed Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]], a post that he held until 1924.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> For his war work during [[World War I]], when Stratford Works was employed on [[munitions work]], he was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]].{{clarify|date=January 2013}}<!-- London Gazette should have more details -->
He was elected a Member of the ILocoE Council in 1924, and later made a vice-president.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" />
He was a frequent contributor to the ''Locomotive Magazine''. He also wrote ''Locomotives: their Construction, Maintenance and Operation'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=Locomotives. their construction, maintenance and operation |last=Bell |first=Arthur Morton |location=London |publisher=Virtue |edition=3rd |year=1936 }}</ref> although published by Virtue rather than Locomotive Publishing.<ref name="Railway World, F Moore" /> It was published only a few months before his death, on 10 February 1936 at home in Hampstead when aged 72 years.<ref name="JILE, obit, AMB" >{{Cite journal |title=Obituary: Arthur Morton Bell |journal=J. Inst. Locomotive Engineers |year=1936 |issue=26 |page=123 }}</ref>
=== Bell, Walter John === The third of the brothers to join, he became the fourth partner in 1896 with the formation of the company. His professional career remained focussed on engineering though, particularly through a long career with Taike and Carlton Ltd. of Victoria Street, London.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> He was also one of the founding members of the [[Institution of Locomotive Engineers]].<ref name="JILE, obit, WJB" >{{Cite journal |title=Obituary: Walter John Bell |journal=J. Inst. Locomotive Engineers |year=1938 |issue=28 |page=608 }}</ref> His publishing career included being the Consulting Editor of ''The Locomotive''. In addition he authored a number of books on locomotive engineering and on railway history, some co-authored with A.C.W. Lowe.
Died 18 September 1938 at Malden, [[Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames|Kingston upon Thames]], aged 64.<ref name="Railway World, F Moore" />
=== A.C.W. Lowe === A.C.W. Lowe was one of the original founders of the company. A graduate of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], he lived at Gosfield Hall, [[Halstead]], Essex. The extent of his involvement with the magazine was extensive, although now difficult to ascertain. He may have been an initial financial backer, and remained a major shareholder. His extensive writing for the magazine was anonymous, although he is known to have written a long and notable series of articles on [[Great Eastern Railway|Great Eastern]] locomotives, published between 1901 and 1913. He also acted as [[proofreader]] for ''The Locomotive'', throughout his life. He died on 3 February 1942, aged 76.<ref name="SI, Moore" />
=== Tilling, William George === Tilling was a trained [[printer (publishing)|printer]], rather than a railwayman, and became a director of the Locomotive Publishing Co. He took a keen amateur interest in railways though and was an early member of the [[Institution of Locomotive Engineers]].<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> He wrote a number of [[monograph]]s on locomotives, ''The Locomotives of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway'' (1920) and the three-volume ''Locomotives of the Southern Railway''.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" />
He died on 25 July 1956.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" /> This death precipitated the sale to Ian Allan by the two remaining partners.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" />
Tilling was a [[freemason]] and also wrote ''A Short History of the Lodge of St. James, No. 765: 1859-1959''. This was completed after his death by Gilbert Fabes and published posthumously.<ref name="SI, Loco Publishing" />
== Photo library == From the very first, the publishing company operated as one of the first specialist photo libraries. Railway photography was increasing in popularity at this time, both by photographers and in demand for their work. Many of these photographers were amateurs, with a keen interest in both photography and their railway subject matter, but without the commercial focus to make a full-time career of it. The Locomotive Publishing Co. acted as a clearing house between them and publishers, offering one of the first of such commercial opportunities for such part-time, although skilled, photographers.<ref name="NA" />
LPC initially issued its photographs as 10×8" and 8½×6½" prints or as '[[carte de visite|cartes de visite]]'. [[Postcard]]s were increasingly popular around this period, with the increase in mass holidays and excursions, themselves reliant on the expanding railway traffic. The company also began to sell photographs as postcards, particularly as themed sets. Some works, particularly for the more populist photographs were coloured.{{efn-lr|The monochrome photographs were hand-coloured, but were then printed as coloured [[lithograph]]s.}} Some paintings were drawn or painted directly, particularly by John Rudd, another artist working under the 'F Moore' pseudonym.<ref name="NA" />
The LPC archive now forms part of the collection of the [[National Railway Museum]].<ref name="NA" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Locomotive Publishing Company |publisher=[[National Railway Museum]] |url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?search=1&searchtxtkeys=locomotive+publishing+company }}</ref>
== Notable publications == * {{cite book |last=Ahrons |first=E. L. |authorlink=E.L. Ahrons |title=The Development of British Locomotive Design |year=1914 |publisher=Locomotive Publishing Co. |location=Amen Corner, London |ref={{harvid|Ahrons, Development of British Locomotive Design}} }} * {{Book-Ahrons-British Steam Railway Locomotive}} * {{Cite book |title=The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding |year=1927 |first=Alfred Rosling |last=Bennett |authorlink=Alfred Rosling Bennett |publisher=Locomotive Publishing Co. |location=Amen Corner, London |title-link=Boulton's Siding }} * {{Cite book |title=Centenary history of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway |last=Dendy Marshall |first=C. F. |authorlink=C.F. Dendy Marshall |publisher=Locomotive Publishing Co. |year=1930 }} * {{Cite book |title=Great Western Locomotive Practice 1837–1947 |last=Holcroft |first=H. |authorlink=Harold Holcroft |publisher=Locomotive Publishing Co. |year=1957 }}
== References == {{Notelist-lr}}
{{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://steamindex.com/locomag/key.htm steamindex list of indexed volumes 1897-1958]
[[Category:Publishing companies of England]] [[Category:Book publishing companies based in London]] [[Category:Publishing companies established in 1899]] [[Category:Defunct publishing companies]] [[Category:British companies established in 1899]]