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Technical Details

General
Railref references are made up of three parts
1 Company code - A two character code devised by the Signalling Record Society define the pre-1923 company. (e.g. NW = London & North Western Railway
2 The Milepost Mileage - Mileages are given in miles and chains with zero being taken as the company's zero point. (e.g. /86.45)
3 The Signalling Record Society Code - The third element of the code is the SRS specific location for signalling installation where applicable. (e.g. -051)
4 This gives the full Railref reference of NW050/86.45 (.051)

Mileage
Mileage data is wherever possible, based on the pre-1923 condition of lines. Where substantial alterations have been made these will be noted and new work by Railtrack will be found under the Railtrack section but cross referenced in the main pre-1923 company. Lengths of joint line not recognised as constituting a line in their own right will be referenced in the index of each company with a cross reference given. Where lines are built to Metric distances, these will have Metric references (i.e. Channel Tunnel or London Transport)

O S References
The standard two character and six digit Ordnance Survey reference will be given and will most often be taken from the Seventh Series 1" maps published around 1955 -1969. An individual collector may wish to use more accurate O S references because of the scale of his information. The software will allow up to 12 digit reference but generally only six digit information will be published.

Source Material
To avoid over duplication references to photographic archives will normally only be held for collections supported by original negative and positive material. Entry in the Railref register does not imply any quality standard for the original material. (Books used in sample as examples)

Accuracy
No guarantee for accuracy is given with regard to both the line indexing system itself or to the exact detail of any referenced item. Constructive comments regarding accuracy are welcomed.

Availability
Material submitted to Railref for inclusion in the national Database is not necessarily available. Individual circumstances of a temporary or permanent nature must be honoured by those using the system. Permanent withdrawal of material will be reflected in the index where Railref are notified by the owner of the collection.